AmeriCorps Grant Cuts Jeopardize Hunger Relief Efforts at Food Bank of Central Louisiana

The Food Bank of Central Louisiana was recently notified that its AmeriCorps Program funding was immediately and unexpectedly terminated, cutting ten members who supported the organization’s Mobile Pantry Program.

Since 2021, the AmeriCorps Program of the Food Bank of Central Louisiana served at household food distributions across Central Louisiana, ensuring that our food-insecure neighbors could put food on their tables every month. AmeriCorps members did the hard work of loading food into neighbors’ vehicles, sorting and packing food in our warehouses, and loading and unloading the trucks for food distributions. They served at the food bank’s home warehouse during daily food distributions in Alexandria; and in the field at 27 monthly mobile pantries across central Louisiana.

“These AmeriCorps members are not just volunteers—they’re part of the lifeline our community depends on,” said Jayne Wright-Velez, Executive Director of the Food Bank of Central Louisiana. “Without their support, we risk falling short in our mission to feed hungry families, children, and seniors who already face tremendous hardship.”

In 2024, AmeriCorps members helped distribute more than 11 million pounds of food across Central Louisiana, reaching over 25,000 individuals each month. The loss of this workforce arrives as demand for food assistance remains high due to continued economic challenges in the region.

Over the last several weeks, 80% of federal AmeriCorps staff were put on administrative leave; the AmeriCorps NCCC program was entirely demobilized; and nearly $400 million in AmeriCorps grant funding was terminated, shuttering more than 1,000 programs and prematurely ending the service of 32,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers across the nation.

“Thousands of AmeriCorps members will be left without a living stipend – likely their only source of income. This will cause many of them to face housing, food, health, and other financial emergencies,” said Wright-Velez.

“We are calling on federal and state leaders to restore funding and safeguard the future of national service programs like AmeriCorps,” Wright-Velez continued. “The cost of these cuts will be measured in empty plates and unmet needs.”

The Food Bank urges the community and local stakeholders to advocate for the restoration of AmeriCorps funding by contacting their congressional representatives and spreading awareness of the program’s local impact.