Jan 31, 2026 3 min read

The Washington County Commissioners took a controversial vote in 2020 to take nearly $300,000 in federal and state funding from our local Washington County Food Bank and give it to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The reasoning at the time was that the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank would do a better job of managing our taxpayer money, coordinating services, and providing for our local food-insecure citizens. I voted against this action, because I had faith in our local food bank, and I wanted to keep the services coordinated locally while keeping local taxpayer dollars in Washington County. I believed that any issues between the food bank and county could have been resolved by working together, not by just throwing up our hands and giving our taxpayer dollars to a group from outside the county.

After six years, I believe it is time to reverse that decision and give our financial funding and support back to the Washington County Food Bank.

The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s website says it is currently working with 34 partners to distribute food to local providers in Washington County. The Food Helpers of Washington County, which is the new name for the Washington County Food Bank, states on its website that it also distributes food monthly at seven sites and provides Senior Food Boxes at 14 sites in our county. The Pittsburgh group and the Food Helpers each work with different food pantries and distributors throughout the county, but the coordination is just not there. In Washington County there are almost 20,000 people who are food insecure, with about 30% of them being senior citizens. We cannot help people by dividing our efforts between these two organizations; therefore, we need to focus on one local effort that will meet the county’s needs most effectively.

We live in a county where 15% to 20% of our children are food insecure, so Food Helpers has taken another step to address food insecurity in our local schools by participating in the Little Moochies program. According to their website, Little Moochies is an AI-driven app created by Carnegie Mellon students to encourage children to take a photo of their food with their smartphones or other devices. The app determines what is on their plate and suggests which foods are best for their health. This fun approach teaches kids how to make healthy dietary choices. In addition to this service, Little Moochies also works with local community fundraisers to provide thousands of free snack bags to local school districts.

The need for a food bank continues to grow with inflation, which increases the cost of living and adds to the struggle local families face when putting food on the table. But we have a chance in Washington County to do better and be more efficient by having one coordinated and local program led by the Washington County Food Bank. We need to create an environment where county government, the food bank, and our local communities can work together to address hunger and keep our donations and tax dollars here in our county.

Larry Maggi

Washington County Commissioner