Second Harvest Food Bank says it's well-stocked and meeting needs despite national cuts to food assistance

As food pantries across the country brace for funding cuts tied to President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley said it’s not in panic mode.

Executive Director Mike Iberis said the food bank is stable and well-stocked, and he credits that to steady-flowing resources, including strong donor relationships and expanded partnerships with local farmers.

Though they’ve lost the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Program and 5 percent of state funding, Iberis said those losses have been absorbed through diversification of a range of funding and food resources. 

“We don’t rely only on USDA," he said, "We have all these partners locally in the three counties. We have donors that support us. We have foundations that support us. We have corporations...Tyson just called today with a load of protein that they’re donating." 

He added that the bulk of the food bank’s supply comes from a long-standing federal food assistance program called TEFAP, which remains in place, although funding remains flat. This comes as there are widespread cuts to other assistance programs, including SNAP and Medicaid. 

Food pantries across the country project an increased need in response to these federal cuts, although Iberis said he's confident the Second Harvest Food Bank will be able to handle any potential influx based on how the food bank has positioned itself financially. 

“We’ve not seen a reduction of food that’s come in here from the federal government,” Iberis said.

Iberis said Second Harvest operates on a $4.7 million budget, which is mostly made up of donations, and distributes about 50,000 pounds of food a day to more than 160 pantries. 

He also noted that the organization is ranked among the top 15 percent of nonprofits nationwide, due in part to keeping administrative costs around 5 percent, a factor he said helps attract donors across the country.