WHEREAS, No one should go hungry, and yet food insecurity touches every community and zip code in America, with 47 million people - including 14 million children - facing food insecurity in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Hunger and food insecurity are issues of vital concern in Philadelphia where, according to Feeding America, over 1 in 7 Philadelphians (15.2%) - including 1 in every 3 children (30.4%) - are food insecure and do not know where their next meal will come from; and
WHEREAS, Food insecurity, the condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food, is associated with numerous adverse social and health outcomes and is a critical public health issue; and
WHEREAS, Philabundance distributed over 20 million meals last year to Philadelphians facing food insecurity through a network of 235 Philadelphia-based community partners; and
WHEREAS, Philabundance is a member of Feeding Pennsylvania and Hunger-Free Pennsylvania, who together distributed over 164 pounds of food statewide to the more than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians in need of food assistance; and
WHEREAS, The fight against hunger requires engaging a wide range of public and private entities including policymakers, business leaders, food banks, community organizations, and concerned citizens; and
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia is committed to taking steps to combat hunger in every corner of our communities and to providing additional resources to those in need; and
WHEREAS, The City is committed to collaborating with Philabundance in educating people about the role and importance of food banks in addressing hunger and raising awareness of the need to devote more resources and attention to hunger issues; and
WHEREAS, The month of September has been designated “Hunger Action Month” in order to bring attention to the issue of food insecurity in our communities and to mobilize the public in the movement to end hunger; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby recognize September 2024, as Hunger Action Month in our City of Philadelphia, and calls this observance to the attention of our citizens.
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