Despite shrinking state funds for food distribution, York County Commissioners on Tuesday announced the county has been able to give away more food this year than last.

Through the State Food Purchase Program, the state gives York money to buy food for 32 local food pantries, said county spokesman Carl Lindquist.

The most recent data released shows the county was able to increase the amount of food given for the 2011-2012 budget period because it switched from York County Food Bank to Central Penn Food Bank, which is less expensive, Lindquist said.

It used the York County Food Bank for 2010-2011, he said, but "the county went out to bid to make sure we were leveraging the funding as best as we could."

The amount of

Shirley Shenberger has been coming to the Catholic Harvest Food Pantry for over three years. Shenberger is retired and on a limited income so she counts on the help the pantry gives her and her family each month. (Bil Bowden)
food distributed increased by 150 tons, or 38 percent, this year, he said.

That's despite a $5,000 decrease in funding, with the state dropping York's payment from about $436,000 to $431,000.

There were 1.09 million pounds of food given away in 2011-2012, compared to about 791,000 pounds the year before, Lindquist said.

"In tough economic times, we've stretched every available dollar to deliver more food to our community's hungry families," said President Commissioner Steve Chronister.

Lindquist said the change ultimately means that there's more food available for hungry people.

"The results of this program are excellent both for hungry people and the taxpayers in York County," Lindquist said.

- Reach Christina Kauffman at ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com.