Project Hunger: Nourishing bodies through healthy food
WTAE Channel 4 has partnered with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for Project Hunger: Week of Giving beginning Sept. 13.
On Wednesday, WTAE focused on chronically ill and cancer patients who have to choose between food and medicine.
Pittsburgh's Action News 4 anchor Mike Clark went to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to talk about food scarcity with Stephanie Biersdorff.
Biersdorff helps people apply for food stamps and shows them how to access fresh fruits and vegetables.
"It's all about the procurement of food and having people have access to it. This idea that nutritious food is a human right," Biersdorff said.
Biersdorff shares her passion for healthy eating with clients after her recovery from a rare appendix cancer that was difficult to diagnose.
Dr. Margaret Watt-Morse said Biersdorff's medical condition was complicated, but she took the time to listen.
"I knew all her medical things were somehow related, but they just needed more than I could do with it. I kept trying to get her to the right people, and it worked out for her, and I'm very glad it did," Watt-Morse said.
Biersdorff credits Watt-Morse with saving her life — and the two women are united in making sure people get their daily servings of nutritious foods.
"In that journey, I've been involved with young women cancer support groups, and a lot of the time, I heard that people have to choose between purchasing their food or purchasing their medicine," Biersdorff said. "Even on my calls for work, a woman was a stage four cancer patient dipping into her funeral fund because she couldn't afford food."
She now uses her job at the food bank to do SNAP outreach, helping people with chronic illnesses get foods that nourish their bodies.
Biersdorff is now working with doctors to add a question to the list they ask patients every visit. Have you experienced food insecurity in the past six months?
She believes nutritious food can make a difference for people living with cancer or chronic illness.
Donations not only help Biersdorff's work but help the food bank distribute 45 million meals every month.
There are two ways to donate this week:
- Text "4HUNGER" to 50155
- Give online at pittsburghfoodbank.org/projecthunger
Nemacolin and 84 Lumber will match all donations up to $50,000.