Food banks in New York state are urging state officials to increase funding for anti-hunger programs, saying that while donations are down the demand for food is up.
The Hunger Action Network of New York State said Friday it's requesting $16.5 million in additional state funds for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program.
State lawmakers set aside $34.5 million for the program earlier this year, but the Hunger Action Network says more is needed.
The group says food pantries and soup kitchens around the state are seeing a decline in donations at a time when demand for food is up.
![Carrot pullers from Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Mexico. "We come from all states and we can't make a dollar in this field noways. [sic] Working from seven in the morning until twelve noon, we earn an average of thirty-five cents." California, February 1937](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/64b1618/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1671+0+342/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2015%2F05%2F26%2F8b31661u_custom-8dc8f58b9672834fbe1cb6fc1aedccb7ed3ea5bb.jpg)