Hunger Relief in Kingston Pennsylvania: What We Witnessed
Hunger relief in Kingston, Pennsylvania became real for our team on Monday as Midwest Food Bank participated in a large community food distribution near Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Each month, we provide several truckloads of food to Northeastern PA to help 15 nonprofit partners who are serving people in that area, many in rural communities with limited resources…even more limited than Central PA!
While we are acutely aware of the need in that area and have been working hard to respond and increase assistance as we are able, we saw it up close and personal Monday. We filled a tractor-trailer with shelf-stable grocery items and transported it to the distribution event. Other partners were on hand with fresh milk, eggs, and produce, so a diverse mix of grocery items was available for each family.
There were hundreds of cars with people waiting for the food. So many cars that several police officers were on hand for crowd control and traffic coordination. Our truck was unloaded by hand as volunteers and our community partners worked to serve families in waiting cars. Sadly, there were more cars than food, so some were turned away.
That’s the situation we face every day. More “cars” than food, but our “cars” are primarily the trucks, vans, and SUVs of our partners. We can’t meet all of their needs. And that grieves us because we know what they are facing on the front lines. We say it repeatedly, but your support helps us acquire more resources to help our partners help more people. It’s one thing to say it. It’s another thing to see it!
Thank you for your prayers and support.
