West Side Campaign Against Hunger
When a federal funding lapse threatened SNAP benefits for nearly 1.8 million New Yorkers, the West Side Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH) faced a rapidly escalating crisis that extended far beyond its own operations. As food pantry demand surged, WSCAH experienced an 87% increase in customers seeking food assistance and responded by increasing the contents of each of its food bags by 50% to help families weather the holiday season. At a pivotal moment for New York City’s social safety net, WSCAH needed to raise public awareness, influence policy conversations and establish itself as a leading authority on hunger and emergency food systems.
Rather than treating the SNAP funding lapse as a policy story, Momentum reframed it as a story affecting humans and communities unfolding in real time across New York City. We paired compelling spokespeople — such as customers, nonprofit leaders and coalition partners — with data and reporting from WSCAH’s food distribution sites to show the consequences of federal policies. By connecting individual experiences to broader conversations about hunger, affordability and the limits of the emergency food system, we positioned WSCAH as the go-to source for media covering the crisis in national, local and regional press closest to lawmakers in DC.
- Elevated WSCAH from a local service provider to a national voice on hunger policy, with placements in ABC News and Good Morning America examining the impact of SNAP funding disruptions on families and food providers
- Amplified growing advocacy efforts around the SNAP funding lapse, helping bring frontline perspectives to policymakers and contributing to emergency funding commitments from New York State and New York City for food assistance programs
- Reached an audience of more than 486 million people through 31 earned media placements in just 55 days
- Secured coverage across every major New York City television affiliate, including CBS New York, FOX 5 NY, Univision 41, PIX11, NY1 and Good Day New York
