Megan PellegrinoThe Philabundance food bank is working hard to make sure everyone in the Delaware Valley is going to have a full plate during the holiday season. Philabundance’s goal is to have 3,000 turkeys available for families in the area to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and with all the fixings.
“We are always thankful for the community’s generosity during the holiday season, especially when it means that families can enjoy abundant holiday meals together,” Bill Clark, Philabundance’s executive director, said in a press release.
Philabundance, the non-profit organization in the northern section of Philadelphia, has been operating and distributing food to the community for over 20 years.
Philabundance doles out food through a network of over 600 member agencies, which consist of churches, after school programs and senior citizen centers. Member agencies are able to order food off a weekly menu, pick up produce or have produce delivered and select items from the walk-through shopping area located in the Philabundance warehouse.
Last year, Philabundance provided approximately 22 million pounds of food to member agencies.
The Cabrini College sophomore class had a chance to volunteer at Philabundance on Nov. 8. With 10 student volunteers and two alumni, Tracey Dukert and Nick Luchko, the spirit of Cabrini traveled to Philadelphia to help lend a hand.
“I don’t usually do a lot of service things but I wanted to get involved and felt that donating my time at a food bank was a great way to give back,” Tom Walsh, a sophomore philosophy major, said.
Tracey Dukert, alumni programs coordinator, put together sophomore service day in hopes to build relationships between the alumni and the current students at Cabrini, while joining together to give back the community.
Philabundance’s success is driven by the number of volunteers willing to donate time through out the year. Even Cabrini’s small group of volunteers was able to make a difference during the afternoon spend at the Philabundance food bank warehouse. Volunteers do simple tasks like separating or boxing food and are needed everyday to help support Philabundance’s mission to fight hunger in the Delaware Valley.
“Help make a difference and volunteer, if you are fortunate to have what you need, help someone who doesn’t. Volunteering or through a financial donation, we can make a meal for under 25 cents due to the amount of food we receive,” Martha Buccino, senior vice president for strategic development at Philabundance, said in an e-mailed interview.
The local community and corporations in the area support the mission of Philabundance by donating time, food and money. Without the direct donations Philabundance would not be able to be the region’s largest food relief organization.
Major corporations such as Wawa and CVS supply donations to allow the organization to keep running even during the busy holiday season. Acme Market provides both generous financial and food donations while Sunoco is supplying Philabundance with a year’s supply of diesel fuel for all their trucks. But without the help of volunteers in the warehouse Philabundance will not be able to reach their goal of being able to give every family in the region a traditional holiday meal.
