STATEN ISLAND — Staten Island is getting hungrier.
Food pantries and soup kitchens in the borough saw a jump in the amount of people lining up for food in the past year, according to a report from Hunger Free America.
The charity, formerly called The New York City Coalition Against Hunger, found that 75 percent of surveyed feeding stations in Staten Island saw an increase in the number of people served in 2015, up from 62.5 percent in 2014, with 16.5 percent describing a "great" increase.
The nonprofit blamed the demand — which has stretched pantries and kitchens thin citywide — on cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that were signed into law in 2014.
It urged President-elect Donald Trump to oppose further cuts proposed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.
While demand was greater than 2014, slightly less pantries and soup kitchens reported they did not have enough food to meet the demand.
Of the 12 pantries and soup kitchens surveyed, 33.33 percent said they did not have enough food to meet the demands, down from the 37.5 percent who didn't last year.
However, there were two more pantries in the borough questioned in this year's report.
Of the ones who said they didn't have enough food, 75 percent said they already had the capacity to increase the number of food they give out, the report found.
