The Hunger Action Network of New York State and the FOCUS Churches of Albany called today for state and federal officials to provide an additional $100 million in funding to assist low and moderate income families with their fuel bills this year. The groups also said it was time to renew the public’s commitment to end hunger. A recent federal report found that hunger had increased for the fifth year in a row. While the state’s 3,000 food pantries and soup kitchens now feed close to a million New Yorkers a week, they were relatively rare in our communities just 25 years ago. As the shocking pictures from New Orleans following Katrina reminded us, we have become too complacent about hunger and poverty in our midst.