Federal Cuts Threaten Hunger — Help CORA

Posted on: May 20, 2025

CORA is facing a devastating loss of $313,788 in federal food support at a time when more families than ever are turning to us for help.

What’s Changing: Federal Cuts to Food Assistance

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, which allowed CORA to buy fresh produce from local farmers, has been eliminated. As a result, CORA will lose $48,000 in funding for local produce. Thus, we will not have as much healthy and nutritious produce to distribute to families experiencing hunger.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides pantry staples, is being cut by 70% or approximately $266,000. As a result, most families who visit CORA’s choice pantry will lose access to food they rely on to feed their families.

Now, Congress is proposing deep cuts to SNAP, the nation’s most effective tool for combating hunger. If enacted, the proposed SNAP cuts would represent the largest rollback of food assistance in U.S. history. These cuts would:

Strip benefits from parents with young children and older adults struggling to get by.
Eliminate SNAP-Ed, which helps families stretch their food dollars and make healthy choices.
Place even more pressure on food pantries like CORA, which are already stretched thin.

How These Cuts Hurt Chatham County

SNAP not only reduces hunger—it also reduces poverty, improves health, and boosts our local economy. Cuts to this critical program will hurt working families, local farmers, and food pantries.

We are already seeing the ripple effects: as access to federal food assistance declines, the need for CORA’s services is growing – and fast. We cannot meet this rising need without your help.

As devastating federal cuts threaten to push even more families into food insecurity, CORA is uniquely positioned to respond swiftly and effectively here in Chatham County. With our trusted choice pantry in Pittsboro, a new location opening soon in Siler City, and our Mobile Market reaching more rural areas, CORA has the infrastructure, community partnerships, and experience to step in where other safety nets are disappearing. But we can’t do it without you. The need is growing—and so must our capacity to meet it. CORA is committed to ensuring every neighbor has access to fresh, healthy, and culturally relevant food. However, with fewer resources and an increasing number of people in crisis, we urgently need financial support to continue this vital work. Without increased financial assistance, we will be forced to cut services that thousands of families rely on to feed their families—cuts that would have devastating consequences for our community.

How You Can Help

Donate today at www.corafoodpantry.org/donate
Volunteer, https://www.corafoodpantry.org/volunteer/opportunities/.
Spread the word—let your friends and networks know what’s at stake.

We need you to stand with CORA to build a stronger, healthier, more food-secure Chatham County. The road ahead is difficult—but together, we can build a community without hunger. Please act now.