Community members surveyed in both Steuben and Yates County’s identified “access to food” as their greatest need. Nearly 13,800 people in this two-county area are food insecure; 5,360 are children.
Proper nutrition is the most basic of human needs. Pro Action’s nutrition programs and community efforts promote quality of life as we connect community members with nutritious food to support a healthy lifestyle.
Senior Nutrition: Seniors need strength-boosting nutrition, yet face barriers to preparing healthy meals. Pro Action provides Senior Nutrition programs
in partnership with Steuben and Yates County Offices for the Aging.
WIC (Women, Infants and Children) ensures eligible women and young children can access good nutrition, even when money is tight and buying
healthy foods is a stretch. The program also provides education and guidance on health and nutrition.
Hope Center Keuka Food Pantry: serves as the main food pantry for Yates County and is a turning point for individuals and families seeking to move toward self-reliance. The pantry works to stabilize families in economic crisis and support them as they strive for self-reliance and a better future. 
Community-Wide Food Distributions: Throughout the pandemic, Pro Action partnered with Food Bank of the Southern Tier and FoodLink to help host touch free community-wide food distributions for those experiencing food insecurities in Steuben and Yates Counties. 
Senior Nutrition – 401 meals are served daily to our customers in Steuben and Yates County’s, totaling 8,822 meals per month. Throughout the course of the pandemic, 9,223 emergency meals have been provided helping to ensure that no senior goes without a meal.
WIC: Women, Infants and Children – over 1,500 participants are currently enrolled in the program, and this number is steadily increasing. 24% are women and 76% are infants and children.
Hope Center Keuka Food Pantry – 3,472 families were served in the last program year, with 233,941 pounds of food distributed.
Community-Wide Food Distributions –
- In Steuben County, Pro Action partnered with Food Bank of the Southern Tier to host 13 touch free food distributions, which provided food boxes to over 5,000 households.
- In Yates County, Pro Action partnered with Yates County and FoodLink to host 20 touch free food distributions, serving 5,819 households.
Myth: People use SNAP benefits on junk food.
Fact: Numerous studies have shown that there are no major differences in the shopping patterns of SNAP households and non-SNAP households, and that most Americans’ diets fall short of meeting the Dietary Guidelines recommendations.
