Second Harvest Food Bank serving more refugees, immigrants, adds translation tool to website

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania, which feeds the hungry in an 11-county region, is adapting to a growing demand for services among refugees, immigrants and other non-English language speakers.

As of Aug. 4, Second Harvest is now using Google Translate on its website to make it easier for clients to apply for the agency's Emergency Food Assistance program, fill out self-declaration forms and other paperwork and read more about the programs and services the food bank provides.

The Second Harvest Food Bank website can be translated from English into nine different languages: Spanish, French, Ukrainian, Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Nepali, Russian and Urdu, which is the official language of Pakistan and used widely throughout India.

"We've seen an influx of more people of varying backgrounds and cultures in our Produce Express lines, a lot of people who are refugees, a lot of people who are first time Americans just getting here," Second Harvest Food Bank's Director of Development Breanna Watts said. "We had someone on staff last year who was an Afghan refugee, and I think that really shined a light on an area where we could do better and maybe hadn't realized it before."

The number of households served by the local Second Harvest Food Bank increased 39% from last fiscal year, Watts said. Many of the new clients are refugees and immigrants in Erie.

“This is an important step in breaking down language barriers to create stable and sustainablesolutions to food insecurity among our immigrants," Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Karen Seggi said. “Being able to access our website in this capacity is crucial in providing food for this growing population.”

Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Second Harvest Food Bank adds translation tool to website