(photos taken prior to March 2020)
#HungerHeroStories
Caryn Long Earl has worked with the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in many capacities over the past 13 years and currently serves as the Director of the Bureau of Food Assistance for the PA Department of Agriculture. In her role, she has always advocated on behalf of Pennsylvania’s food banks, but during the pandemic, her work took on even greater importance.
Caryn worked tirelessly to leverage state and federal resources to provide immediate aid to food banks on the front lines. She pursued solutions to many different challenges that arose in the earliest weeks of the crisis, helping to ensure food banks received resources and rule waivers to meet the COVID-19 hunger crisis.
“I feel passionately that food is an essential human right and find it unconscionable that there are people across this nation who are hungry,” Caryn said. “As a public servant, it is both my honor and responsibility to work with our partners in the charitable food network to help connect as many Pennsylvanians with food as possible. The pandemic has pulled the rug out from under too many of our neighbors, stripping them of both their jobs and their sense of security. As they work to get back on their feet, it is critical to have a strong public/charitable partnership that can help support them.”
We are proud to honor Caryn Long Earl as one of our 2020 Hunger Heroes. #HungerActionMonth