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If you find yourself strolling near University Boulevard and 4th Avenue on a weekday afternoon, you may notice a stream of people trickling into the basement of the big pink corner church. Chances are, they鈥檙e visiting the Trinity Presbyterian Food Pantry, where I had the privilege of volunteering from 2009-2012. Over the years, as word spread about the small pantry in the heart of the city, it has taken root and bloomed. Through a partnership with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, Trinity typically distributes 200 food boxes per month through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and hands out about 55 snack packs every Tuesday and Thursday. Judging by the smiling volunteers and appreciative clients, it would appear that the pantry is thriving.

However, as I learned in a recent conversation with Trinity鈥檚 food facilitator, Billie Holbrook, looks can be deceiving. Holbrook shared that in the past few weeks, a record number of families have requested food boxes, and the daily pack distribution has surged by nearly 30%. One in seven Arizonans, including one in five children, already face hunger; rising food bank visits could mean that number is growing. The problem is, as Trinity鈥檚 client base increases, the amount of food available to them is decreasing.

One major reason is that in March, as part of President Trump鈥檚 sweeping cost-cutting measures, the U.S. Agriculture Department cut $500 million from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. This program would have paid local farmers to provide fresh produce and proteins to supplement food boxes, which only contain enough dried and canned goods to last about three days. Due to these cuts, Trinity just learned that there will be zero supplemental items available for families in June. Government cuts to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program have also affected Tucson, forcing the Community Food Bank to eliminate this critical food resource for hundreds of seniors.

At the same time, cost-of-living increases are pushing some families to the brink of food insecurity. From 2020-24, U.S. food prices rose by 23.6%, and the average price of home ownership rose by 76%. For some people, a stipend from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the only way they can afford groceries amidst these rising costs. However, instead of ramping up support for struggling families, the U.S. House of Representatives just advanced a bill that would cut nearly $300 billion from SNAP over the next 10 years. If that happens, millions more Americans may rely on food pantries to survive.

Despite these mounting challenges, Trinity鈥檚 pantry staff 鈥� consisting mostly of retired volunteers 鈥� continues to fight for their clients. They coordinate pickups of surplus food from retailers like Walmart, Trader Joe鈥檚 and QT through the Grocery Rescue and Meal Connect programs. Then they haul, inventory, and package this food so it鈥檚 ready to distribute. The church allots thousands of dollars to provide snack bags for unhoused clients, who often don鈥檛 have the means to cook items from traditional food boxes. Trinity has also invested in refrigeration units to store perishable goods 鈥� a luxury many pantries don鈥檛 have the space or finances to accommodate. Yet despite all of their efforts, the cuts just keep coming.

Holbrook fears that if funding cuts continue, eventually churches will carry the entire responsibility for providing supplemental food assistance to communities. It appears she has reason to worry. When the USDA slashed food bank budgets, their rationale was that the programs 鈥渘o longer effectuate the goals of the agency.鈥� If feeding Americans isn鈥檛 the USDA鈥檚 primary goal, perhaps they don鈥檛 need a financial overhaul; they need a moral reckoning.

Holbrook hasn鈥檛 given up hope. She says the gratitude on clients鈥� faces is the fuel that keeps her going. But determination and goodwill can only carry an organization so far. To keep folks fed, pantries need food. All of us can help immediately by donating our money, resources, or time to the Community Food Bank of Southern 蜜桃影像AV or our neighborhood pantry. As the current administration cuts assistance programs down to the core, we as a community must commit to feeding our neighbors.

If we don鈥檛 step up, who will?