Squirrel Hill Food Pantry celebrates 25 years while facing surging demands
For more than quarter-century, local institution has ensured Pittsburghers do not go hungry. Along with marking milestone, staff hope community recognizes present and looks ahead
As the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry celebrates nearly a quarter century of helping ensure community members do not go hungry, its staff is also raising concerns.
Jordan Golin, president and CEO of JFCS, remembers the pantry’s 1998 beginnings.
Back then, he said, there was a “pretty widespread perception” that there was no poverty in the Jewish community.
Communal understanding changed, Golin continued, after the Jewish Healthcare Foundation conducted a study finding nearly 10% of Jewish families in the region were “living in poverty.”
Although those families met federal poverty guidelines, merely 4% received supplemental food services, according to the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center.
Along with its report demonstrating local food insecurity, JHF provided a three-year grant to establish the pantry and invited several organizations to help with planning, including JFCS, Hebrew Free Loan Association, Jewish Assistance on Aging, Rabbinical Council of Pittsburgh, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Rainbow Kitchen.
In October 1998, the Kosher SuperPantry opened at Wightman School Community Center. Over the years, the location and name changed. The pantry moved to 5842 Forward Ave. in 2000, then relocated to 828 Hazelwood Ave. in 2010.
In 2007, in an effort to be more “straightforward,” the Kosher SuperPantry became the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, then-director Aryeh Sherman told the Chronicle.
The institution continued growing, and “today we have a pantry that is a critical part not just of the Jewish community, but of the broader Pittsburgh community as well,” Golin said. In addition to helping kosher consumers, the pantry provides meals to individuals “who require emergency food when their local pantry isn’t open.”
Here for everybody
According to city estimates, about 1 in 5 Pittsburgh residents “struggle to have healthy, adequate and culturally appropriate food.”
Within Allegheny County, 1 in 6 children “may not have enough food,” the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank reported.
Data isn’t just numbers; it represents real people, explained Jesse Sharrard, the pantry’s director.
“We’re here as a resource for everybody,” he said. Whether it’s older adults, “whose budgets on their fixed income don’t quite stretch enough,” people who are out of work or between jobs, or those who are facing hardships or homelessness, the pantry is committed to ensuring “somebody doesn’t have to skip out on meals to pay for other daily living expenses.”
Despite JFCS’ commitment to the cause, new pressures exist.
Since January 2025, the pantry has seen “significantly higher” requests for assistance, Sharrard said.
Historically, 230-300 households visited the pantry each month. This year’s totals are closer to 430-450 households, “translating to somewhere upwards of 1,000 individuals per month,” he continued.
Along with an increased number of individuals served, demographics also have changed. The organization is now seeing “larger households with more children,” he said.
Sharrard attributed the shift to growing costs and a job market impacted by “cuts to the federal workforce.”
Fed up at work
Nearly 3 million people are employed by the federal government.
PBS reported in July that while there’s no “official figure” tracking job cuts, at least 75,000 federal employees had taken deferred resignation and thousands of probationary workers were terminated.
In August, Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, told Reuters the Trump administration would likely jettison about 300,000 workers this year, with just 80% leaving voluntarily.
The “trickle down” effect of federal policy changes is evident in Pittsburgh, Sharrard said. “In large part, we’re seeing people who have had some sort of disruption to their lives, whether in terms of costs, or in terms of income, or both.”
Golin said he’s staying focused on recent changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federally funded program ensuring low-income residents have purchasing power at grocery stores.
“SNAP is designed to help ensure that no one in America dies of hunger. And it does it through a very structured, very careful, way. It’s been evaluated non-stop. It has incredibly low rates of fraud,” he said.
The program’s origins date back more than 80 years; however, starting Sept. 1, in order to remain or become eligible for SNAP benefits, certain individuals will need to meet various requirements, including working, volunteering or participating in an education and training program for at least 20 hours a week, and reporting those experiences.
“It’s been a very successful program, but the changes to the program are going to result in millions of people losing their SNAP benefits,” Golin said.
He counted older adults, immigrants and single parents among those most likely affected.
“In addition to struggling to pay for everything else, in a time in which things are becoming more and more expensive, people are now going to struggle even more to put food on the table,” he said.
Apples and honey and purpose
With Rosh Hashanah on the horizon, Golin said, the pantry is happy to report it is distributing locally sourced honey.
Traditional holiday practices, including dipping slices of apple in honey, signify the hope for a sweet new year.
Golin said it’s important to celebrate “sweetness” and recognize the “good that’s happening in our lives.”
Still, he hopes Pittsburghers approach the period with perspective.
“There’s a lot of stuff competing for our attention in this world, there’s so much happening on the federal level, there’s so much happening in people’s families,” he said. “My hope is that as people enjoy the sweetness, they also recognize that not everyone is as fortunate as us and that people are struggling.”
Once Pittsburghers come to that realization, they may arrive at a deeper understanding, he said. “I believe that it’s our obligation to not only take care of our families, it’s also important for us to take care of our community.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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