WATSONTOWN —CSO is expanding food assistance in Upper Northumberland County through a new partnership with Luzerne County Community College. Central Susquehanna Opportunities unveiled a new mini mobile food pantry that will periodically serve the college’s Watsontown-area campus.
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank Chief Strategy Officer Zachary Zook says Northumberland County’s food insecurity rate remains elevated compared with neighboring counties. He noted that as SNAP benefits were cut, visits to food pantries went up, “Northumberland County has had a 10% drop in SNAP participation in the last year and a half. The challenge is that a lot of those folks still need food assistance, so it’s not necessarily that they have been able to access other forms of assistance or increase employment status. That’s not really the trends that we’re seeing.”
The campus will also have a food cupboard for students, while a CSO staff member will regularly help students connect with food and other community services. CSO already operates a larger monthly mobile pantry at Warrior Run Fire Department nearby.
