Article by Madison Rios for WKOW.
MADISON (WKOW) — Organizations nationwide are preparing for if or when the executive order calling for a pause in federal spending will go into effect.
This includes Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin.
“The executive orders that were initially issued meant challenges for our community, challenges for the folks that we support,” said Michelle Orge, president & executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin.
Orge tells 27 News, although the food bank doesn’t directly receive federal funding, a lot of its partners do.
“We’re here to fill those gaps and to provide support, that’s what we were thinking about,” Orge said.
She said if federal funding stops at a level above Second Harvest, it will eventually trickle down to the resources the food bank has, impacting its ability to support 16 counties throughout southern Wisconsin.
“We really need to maintain that support, and it’s going to take all of us,” Orge said. “It’s going to take the entire community to help get through this.”
Orge said food insecurity is at an all-time high. Second Harvest doubled its food output during the pandemic, and it has doubled again since then, even before the Trump administration began issuing orders.
“What we’re looking at now is just waiting, waiting for information, waiting for news, so that we know what types of challenges we’re going to be working through to support our partners,” Orge said.
When the original order was issued, Orge said there was a lot of confusion.
“Folks are already struggling with uncertainty and concerns about employment, concerns about health care, and transportation, insurance, a lot of different costs that folks are facing that fluctuate,” Orge said.
The Trump administration argues the pause in federal spending aligns with the president’s cost-saving agenda and is within the law. Several states and lawyers representing nonprofits are filing lawsuits, calling the order unlawful.
Orge tells 27 News, supporting the communities throughout southern Wisconsin has always been top of mind for Second Harvest.
Despite a federal judge extending the pause on the federal spending freeze, the food bank is curating a plan to prepare for any potential pauses or any possible increase in food costs.
“If hunger or food insecurity affects one of us, it affects all of us,” Orge said. “We are built to bend, but the challenge is, is that even though we’re built for it, it takes resources.”
To learn more about the resources available through Second Harvest or about volunteer and donation options, click here.
