**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

CONTACT: 

Emilia Rowland, Emilia.Rowland@mail.house.gov

Vaibhav Vijay, Vaibhav.Vijay@mail.house.gov

Congresswoman Summer Lee to Present $1,000,000 Check to Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank  

Pittsburgh, Pa. — Today Rep. Summer Lee visited the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to present a $1 million check in grant funding that was secured in Community Project Funding in the FY24 Federal Budget. This funding will be used to distribute 33 million pounds of food to 400,000 low- and moderate-income individuals. This is one of 14 projects for which Rep. Lee has secured for this year With the federal investment, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will be able to purchase four new refrigerated trucks that will save the organization nearly $220,000 annually – funds that will be invested directly back to supporting food purchases and nutritional programs.

“As grocery prices have gone up, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank has continued to see an increase in folks needing their services, as 2023 saw a significant increase in the number of households it was supporting. This $1 million investment will go directly to ensuring the Food Bank can meet the needs of families who are struggling to put food on the table” said Rep. Summer Lee. “I’m proud to work with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to directly fight food insecurity in our region, and I will continue my efforts in Congress to combat food deserts, bring down grocery prices, and ensure more of our children and families are getting access to nutritious, wholesome meals.”

Event photos here: [LINK]

Background: 

This comes after Rep. Lee hosted a roundtable in August with the Westmoreland Food Bank and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, as well as community members to discuss nutrition policies and available programs in the Farm Bill and the Federal Budget. 

In December, Rep. Lee hosted a roundtable with Community Project Funding recipients to highlight the need to pass a federal budget, and what these vital investments would do for their organizations and for the community. 

• Colleen Young, from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, said “In the last year, the food bank supported an average of more than 32,000 households in Allegheny County each month, a 28% increase from 2022. With a million dollar federal investment, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank would be able to purchase four new refrigerated trucks that will save the organization nearly $220,000 annually – funds that can instead be invested in supporting food purchases and programs to ensure that more food reaches people in need. Right now, one in 10 individuals in the region live with food insecurity. So this funding is going to be an essential support for those we serve and we really appreciate Representative Lee’s support in this effort.”

After Congressional Republicans threatened another government shutdown, President Biden was finally able to sign the bipartisan negotiated partial FY24 budget last week. Included in the budget was $12 million for Rep. Lee’s district will go toward organizations and projects to fight hunger, homelessness and blight, as well as wraparound services, infrastructure improvements and education against antisemitism and discrimination. 

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Since taking office in January, Lee, who serves on the House Oversight Committee and Space, Science and Technology Committee, has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $1 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $200 million for infrastructure, over $50 million for affordable transit, and over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 1,950 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.

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