The Second Harvest Food Bank is calling on the community to take action against hunger.

Members of the food bank gathered in Perry Square on Thursday to declare September as Hunger Action Month.

According to Feeding America, nearly 89,000 people in Northwest Pennsylvania are food insecure.

Since January, Second Harvest Food Bank has seen a 31 percent increase in people seeking emergency food assistance.

With the holiday season just around the corner, every donation helps.

"There's definitely a need during the holiday months because families are trying to celebrate the holidays and their food budget is already stretched," said Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Karen Seggi. "We work with a lot of partners including Erie News Now to make sure that people have food over the holidays."

Erie News Now works with the food bank every year, to help feed the hungry.

Our annual food drive will be held this year on November 16.

This story is supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.