Montco Anti-Hunger Network

In 2014, what’s now known as MontCo Anti-Hunger Network (MAHN) was created to address a variety of distribution challenges experienced by area food pantries. Agencies were not equipped to efficiently share donations that were too large for their exclusive use. Coordinating on the fly with multiple pantries was time consuming and complicated. Different operating schedules and abilities to transport, store and distribute fresh food promptly were among the obstacles encountered. 

With financial support from North Penn Community Health Foundation (NPCHF), now HealthSpark Foundation, some of the leaders of these agencies formed a task force to explore and tackle the problems around large scale, fresh food donations. In a broader context, they also began thinking of ways to increase the availability of fresh food to all county pantries. Since then MAHN has contributed to Montgomery County food safety net resilience by:

• Establishing and building a network of over 60 historically siloed food pantries serving more than 84,000 individuals per year
• Developing a highly valued, county wide Food Resource Program
• Coordinating food and funding resources too large for individual food pantries to access
• Developing ways to engage food pantry consumers in program development
• Building knowledge of best practices in food pantry management 
• Building strategic partnerships that facilitate an effective and coordinated response to hunger
• Catalyzing systems changing practices that decrease barriers to obtaining food assistance
• Raising hunger awareness among the general public and elected officials