Hunger Relief Action: How Advocacy & Communication Can Drive Policy Change

In 2025, Olean Food Pantry served 27,170 people. If ever there’s a call for hunger relief action – using advocacy and communication to drive policy change – that’s it.

That number is staggering — more than double the totals served annually since 2020. But it’s more than a statistic. It’s a reflection of the lives, stories and struggles of our neighbors in Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. 

It’s a reality shaped by systemic issues that go far beyond the walls of our pantry: rising food costs, stagnant wages, vanishing safety nets, and government systems that too often overlook rural hunger needs. We say it often: these realities are often felt most profoundly here at the northernmost tip of Appalachia, where generational poverty abounds.

The question we must ask ourselves is: How can we be proactive and do more than respond?

How do we take action before hunger strikes?

The answer is advocacy. The tool that drives it forward is communication.

Hunger Relief Action Requires More Than Food — It Requires a Voice

Olean Food Pantry is proud to be part of the regional hunger relief system. We stock shelves, serve our clients with compassion and dignity, and make sure families don’t have to go to bed hungry. 

But we also recognize that this work cannot and should not exist in a vacuum.

Our volunteers, Board members and other supporters bear witness every day to the root causes of hunger — broken systems, bureaucratic barriers and inadequate policy support. Hunger is not just a symptom of poverty. It’s largely a consequence of policy decisions and broken economics. 

When federal funding is slashed or state resources bypass rural communities, we see the result on our distribution days:

• Lines of pantry clients that stretch longer.
• Shelves that empty faster.
• Parents out of work.
• Mental health & addiction issues.
• & Much more.

In short, families in crisis today have little hope for a better future. Gone are the days when hard work alone could lift a family from poverty; when a single income could support an entire family with savings to spare.

What Can Hunger Relief Advocacy Look Like?

When we talk about advocacy, many people think of political rallies or heated debates. But advocacy can start right where you are, in everyday conversations and digital spaces. It begins with building community and leveraging connections. 

Here are just a few ways that can take shape:

Tell Your Story or Share Someone Else’s (With Consent)

Hunger is often invisible. But storytelling makes it real. Sharing the truth of food insecurity — the mother skipping meals to feed her children, the senior choosing between prescriptions and groceries — brings faces to the numbers. 

Paint that picture. 

Stories shift hearts and minds. They create empathy and urgency to inspire action.

Engage Elected Officials

Your town supervisor or county legislator may be more attuned to the local hunger crisis. But they may also be strapped for resources to affect meaningful change. Meanwhile, your state representative or U.S. senator may not be aware of just how severely food insecurity impacts average people. 

It often feels like poverty and food insecurity in WNY sit far down the priority lists of key decision-makers. But we can change that!

Write letters. Make phone calls. Invite them to visit the food pantry. Bring them face-to-face with the hunger issue they’re being asked to address.

Use Social Media as a Megaphone

Share blog posts, infographics and real-life stories. Tag decision-makers. Ask questions publicly. Create content that gets people talking and thinking. Social media isn’t just a space for connection — it’s a sounding board of ideas and visibility.

Join or Organize Community Meetings

Hosting a town hall, panel discussion or school forum about poverty and hunger can elevate local voices and spotlight regional disparities. 

Hunger isn’t just a personal issue — it’s a community issue. The only way to fix it is to talk about it, together. Widespread change begins at the grassroots level. Brainstorm local solutions to local issues.

With hard work – and a bit of strategic outreach – hunger relief efforts can have a ripple effect.

Partner with Local Schools, Churches & Civic Groups

Use your existing networks. Ask them to host donation drives, spread awareness, or facilitate conversations about hunger and social justice. When different sectors come together, their influence multiplies.

When Leaders Don’t Listen, We Act Anyway

We’re not naïve. We know change is slow, and sometimes it feels like leaders in power aren’t listening — or worse, are actively turning away.

Earlier this year, Olean Food Pantry experienced an 8.5% net decrease in federal food distribution support. That funding helped feed thousands. Now it’s gone, and the need has only grown.

So what did we do? We adapted.

We deepened our local partnerships. OFP had earlier launched a $1 Million Fundraising Campaign that had already gained momentum in building long-term sustainability. We’ve explored solar energy and other sustainability efforts to cut costs and reinvest savings into food purchasing. We’ve also doubled down on serving with dignity, expanding our distribution model by soliciting community donations of items like cereal and diapers.

When our voices fall on deaf ears, we lift each other up. That’s grassroots leadership.

The Path Forward: You Are the Hunger Relief Advocate We’ve Been Waiting For

Whether you’re a volunteer, donor, neighbor, or someone who has used our services — you are part of this movement. You don’t need a title. You don’t need a platform. You only need to care — and act.

Ask questions. Share stories. Speak truth. Demand better. And here’s why:

• No one in our communities should have to choose between food and survival.
• No child should go to bed hungry in the richest country on Earth.
• Food is not a luxury — it’s a human right.

At Olean Food Pantry, we’ll keep doing what we do best — feeding people with compassion, efficiency, and dignity. But we also know the work doesn’t stop there. Ending hunger means holding power to account and demanding real, systemic change.

The dramatic increase in local hunger demands more than just emergency relief. It demands a response from the entire community.

Let’s make hunger impossible to ignore. Your voice — and your action — matters more than ever. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation today!