West Philadelphia: Local organizations tackle food insecurity
Every Tuesday and Saturday, Kinji Ridley parks his car and unloads boxes of groceries from the trunk, handing them over to volunteers who set them up on benches and picnic tables. A line of dozens of West Philadelphia residents forms and they each pick out bags of food, assembly-line style, before dispersing and going their separate […]
Spruce Hill: Greensgrow Urban Farm Talks Food Insecurity And Community
Greensgrow Farm was created to bring fresh, locally-grown produce to Philadelphia. Today, two locations and mobile markets (in Fishtown and West Philadelphia) provide fruits, vegetables, flowers and a sense of community across the city. The urban farm located at 5123 Baltimore Ave. seeks to raise awareness of the necessity of wholesome agricultural practices, as well […]
Northeast: Supermarket Closures Leave Food Pantries Scrambling
It was 8:40 a.m. on a recent sunny, spring-like day. In addition to the birds chirping, chatter could be heard as a line from the front of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church wrapped around Sackett Street onto Tyson Avenue. Many were gathering and waiting for the Feast of Justice’s Community Cupboard to open. Feast of […]
Overbrook Park: Residents’ Donations Ease Hunger and Cold During Holidays
Thousands of families in Philadelphia recently sat down at their dinner tables to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal complete with a turkey and all the fixings. The meal is the culmination of the time they spent walking around their crowded local grocery store filling their cart with holiday essentials. For some, this is not their reality. They […]
West Kensington: Connecting the Community One Meal at a Time
“Hunger to me means a lot of different things. On a physical aspect, hunger is when I haven’t eaten in a while and I’m just feeling down, weakened,” said Kevin Millinger as he waited in line for a free meal at the Blessed Sarnelli Community (BSC). “On the mental aspect and emotional aspect, hunger to […]
Poverty: Five Free Meal Volunteer Opportunities
Around 50 million Americans are living in food-insecure households. With recent cuts in SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, food pantries and free meal programs are feeling the burden of Philly’s growing population living in hunger. Despite federally funded aid programs like SNAP, many Philadelphians are still unable to feed their households. In a 2011 […]
Hunting Park: Neighborhood Food Stamp Use Three Times the National Average; New Guidelines May Force Cuts
Not long after graduating from high school, Khalil Smith moved out of his mother’s house in Olney to live with his grandmother in Hunting Park. At the time, he had never thought that he would find himself needing help just to eat. “For my mom to pull out her MAC [Money Access Card] or her […]