Amidst the ongoing federal government shutdown and reduction in SNAP funding, Broadview Federal Credit Union has made a significant donation to support New Yorkers in need.
Broadview CEO Michael Castellana announced that the credit union is donating $150,000 in support of local hunger relief programs and nonprofit organizations. Broadview is also investing another $600,000 in organizations in Albany and Buffalo.
The funding will help food pantries respond to the sudden and severe strain caused by the partial suspension of SNAP funding.
“We can’t solve the SNAP crisis. We can’t solve furloughs. We can’t solve all the problems beyond our control. What we can do is allocate $750,000 across 55 organizations so they can help us to make a difference to the impacted people in our community,” said Castellana.
The donation will directly assist organizations operating food pantries, meal programs, and shelters, including nonprofit organizations such as Catholic Charities of Onondaga County and Broome County Council of Churches.
“This is incredible,” said Broome County Council of Churches Director of Development Michael Leahey. “We literally just ordered 20 pallets of food last week, and it went in one day. We’ve never seen anything like this. This gift will help provide almost 100,000 meals in our community. We’re just very thankful for this. It really came at a critical time.”
The donation is in addition to the more than $500,000 Broadview has already donated to nonprofits committed to fighting hunger across the state. In total this year, Broadview, its employees, and members have donated more than $1.2 million to help feed community members in need.