Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Central Pennsylvania Food Bank has rescued more than 9,600,000 pounds of food since the onset of the pandemic. Through creative partnerships with companies like FedEx, Pennsylvania Farm Show, and the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System, they have increased their capacity and are able to compensate farmers, at least in part, for the costs associated with recovering produce. Over the next 90 days, they anticipate rescuing 12,900,000 pounds of food.

STORIES AND PHOTOS

The Food Bank shares the story of receiving an emergency call from a family where both parents were recently released from the hospital to recover from COVID-19 at home. They were still suffering from the virus and needed food for their family. Their son made the call to ask for assistance – he couldn’t leave the house and didn’t have any money for food. The Food Bank staff talked with him about their situation and how they could reach them. They were able to provide Crisis Response Boxes, as well as fresh produce and frozen meat from its Harrisburg Healthy Food Hub. The Food Bank also provided a gift card so that they could buy a specific food that the parents were craving – grapes. A neighbor picked up the food from the Food Bank and delivered everything to their doorstep.