But while we’re excited about the growth in our community, 50 years of Metro Caring also means 50 years of people experiencing hunger. That’s not something to be proud of. The decades of doing this work give us some perspective: We’ve learned traditional food pantries that simply hand out leftover, unwanted food don’t solve hunger long-term or lead to healthier communities. We can usher in a different future in the next 50 years where parents can put food on the table and a roof over their family’s head. Where older adults can afford healthy food and quality health care. 

Advocacy and root cause work has been woven into Metro Caring’s work for decades, but now, with a full team of community organizers, we’re poised to do more. This year, our organizing team helped community leaders grow as storytellers and organizers, registered people to vote, and provided civic education about the issues on our infamously long November ballot. Our food access work strategically focused on addressing the corporate-controlled food system as a root cause of hunger. We built a dozen strong relationships with local farmers, procuring food community wants and needs to guarantee more reliability in the Fresh Foods Market and strengthen a local, sustainable food economy. 

These kinds of local wins remind us of what’s possible, even in the face of a chaotic federal administration. We will push back against political policies or executive actions like this year’s historic cuts to SNAP and Medicaid that force people to choose between buying groceries and accessing healthcare. We will continue to work with our community to achieve our vision of ending hunger at its root locally and nationally.

Facing these federal funding cuts and increase costs, we made the difficult decision to sunset our Urban Agriculture program this year to sustain our long-term work. The program empowered thousands of people to grow their own food in their own communities over the last several years, and we’re proud of the work accomplished by everyone involved. We’ll continue to support community in this way by collaborating with partners whose missions are centered on urban agriculture and can lead the work with even greater spirit and care. 

Since 1974, we’ve weathered many hard economic times and harmful federal policies that divest from our community’s health and wellness. We will continue to focus on where we can make progress toward ending hunger at its root and nurturing what makes us stronger. It’s never easy, but through it all, our community never fails to show up to care for one another. Now is the time to be here. Come volunteer, find new ways to support our work, and connect your friends and your network to grow our movement. 

With gratitude,