Credit unions answer the call as food insecurity hits millions of Americans
Pamela Frederick Williams was staring at a budget shortfall. As the Benefits Navigator at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Oregon, she oversees the campus food pantries serving students who struggle to afford meals alongside tuition. Heading into the holiday season, the numbers weren’t adding up. Then her phone rang.
“She simply said, ‘Hi, my name is Michelle from STCU, and I would like to donate to your EOU food pantry,’” Williams recalled of the call from a representative at Spokane Teachers Credit Union. Williams assumed the credit union might drop off some canned goods to help restock empty shelves. She didn’t think to ask what kind of donation was coming.
When Michelle arrived on campus and presented a check for $7,500, Williams was overwhelmed. “What a blessing,” she said. “It will have a great impact on our students.”
More than a transaction
The moment carried weight for Williams, who is herself an EOU alumna. When she enrolled in 2016, no campus food pantries existed. She skipped meals regularly, stretching limited funds as far as they would go. After graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned to the university specifically to build the safety net she never had. “The pantry and the Benefits Navigator Program help eliminate that impossible choice” between tuition and food, she said. “It’s the safety net I wish I had when I was a student.”
STCU’s gift will restock pantry shelves and support outreach events across campus, ensuring, as Williams put it, that no student has to navigate hunger while pursuing an education.
A crisis demanding a response
Williams’ story unfolds against a backdrop of deepening national need. A March 2026 Urban Institute study found that nearly 1 in 4 American adults reported difficulty affording adequate food in 2025, with nearly one-third of working-age adults living with children experiencing food insecurity.
The situation is poised to worsen: a 2025 federal reconciliation law cut $187 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade, the deepest reduction in the program’s history, pushing millions toward food banks that are already strained. The scale of the challenge is stark: for every one meal a food bank provides, SNAP provides nine. That gap is where credit unions are increasingly showing up.
Recognizing that need is rising
In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Greylock Federal Credit Union recently directed a special $50,000 allocation to six local food pantries, citing a continued rise in food insecurity across Berkshire County. The recipients collectively deliver staggering scale: Pittsfield Community Food Pantry serves 500 families each week, while Berkshire Food Project prepares 200 no-cost, no-questions-asked homemade meals every day. Berkshire Dream Center founder and executive director Katelynn Miner captured the urgency plainly. “At a time when needs are increasing across our community,” she said, “this gift was nothing short of a miracle.”
“Food is a basic need that we all share,” said Jamie Moncecchi, senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Greylock Federal Credit Union. “It’s our hope that this funding will help ease the strain and allow more families and individuals in our communities to access the resources they need.”
When hunger and hardship intersect
Virginia Credit Union took a notably different approach in its Q1 2026 giving, recognizing that food insecurity rarely travels alone. Among its $120,000 in first-quarter donations to 16 nonprofits serving the Roanoke Valley, New River Valley, and Lynchburg, a $20,000 gift went to Total Action for Progress’s Breakthrough Fund, an initiative designed to help families in employment and training programs survive unexpected financial emergencies that could derail their progress entirely. An estimated 24 families will benefit, receiving relief for crises as varied as emergency car repairs, childcare gaps, and medical costs.
The credit union also directed $22,500 specifically to combat hunger, with gifts to Feeding Southwest Virginia, Lynchburg Daily Bread, and Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
“We know that even small financial hurdles at critical moments can prevent families from succeeding in life-changing education and training programs,” said Tim Rowe, Virginia Credit Union’s Western Region Market president.
The next generation
The urgency extends to children. Horizon Credit Union in Utah is marking its 70th anniversary by hosting a multi-branch donation drive for the Davis Education Foundation, collecting Pantry Packs, shelf-stable meals for students to take home on weekends. The statistic driving the effort is sobering: 1 in 5 school-age children in Davis County faces food insecurity. High school food pantries are also among the beneficiaries, stocking shelves with cereal, canned goods, and shelf-stable proteins for students and their families.
Credit unions have long held “people helping people” as more than a slogan. The stories from La Grande, Pittsfield, Roanoke, and Davis County suggest that when it comes to hunger, the movement is making that phrase count, one community, one phone call, and one donation at a time.
