Feast of Justice

Dear Tricia,

In late June, we asked you for help. Now, we use this newsletter to inform you about how Feast of Justice is already engaging the community in our growth.

We can’t do this work without you, our donors and volunteers.

We invite you to continue getting involved!

This can happen in a variety of ways–including volunteering, engaging in helping to tell the Feast of Justice story, donating, and, of course, praying for us. Continued involvement is how we, as a community, address hunger, meet needs, and inspire hope!

If you want to donate:

• feastofjustice.org/donate or send through the mail.

• Create a food drive in your neighborhood, business, place of worship, or club. The most needed items are juices, cereals, spices, paper products, and personal care items.

• Connect us to local farmers–or contact us about bringing us fresh produce from your own garden!

If you want to tell the Feast of Justice story and support the families that we serve, we can provide information or training on ways that your voice can be heard.

If you want to volunteer, please check out our website. We are looking for many skill sets, many levels of commitment, and even some group activities. The needs will greatly increase as we get into September especially.

Keep reading below for our newsletter.

Our guests need more than food! To help support connecting our guests beyond what we offer, we now have a volunteer-driven resource desk. This includes a referral system, flyers of community events, screenings for federal programs, and even blood pressure screenings. Thanks to our interns from Jefferson University and LaSalle University, as well as our American Heart Association partners to help set it up. It is a great way to connect and help!

Volunteer at resource desk explains a resource to a visitor.

As we continue to grow, we also are grateful for support received to help to strengthen our facilities. 

Through recent funding from the Commonwealth of PA/SHARE foods, as well as the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust, we are replacing our temporary POD with another permanent walk-in cooler/freezer unit at our Tyson location and will be replacing the entry way at both of our locations to more easily move our food product into the building.

As we see the volume of donated food decreasing, and see more and more families that need our help, we decided to partner with Philabundance to offer a summer lunch box program for families with children in our community. Families at our pantry will be able to receive chef-prepared and nutritionist-designed, kid-friendly lunches and breakfasts, as well as shelf-stable snacks to supplement their summer needs.

Meet the newest member of our team: Chrissy Foley started with us this spring as our Volunteer Engagement Manager. Chrissy’s roles include connecting with volunteers, making sure they are engaged, and that their skills are used to make the greatest impact in our community. 

Our volunteer program hosts more than 1000 volunteers annually. Chrissy will help to keep it strong!

We have been grateful to connect with many local foundations in recent months to support our work. Within the last 6 months, this includes:

• M&T Foundation
• American Heart Association
• Geisinger Health Benefit Fund
• W.W. Smith Charitable Trust
• Leo and Peggy Pierce Foundation
• Pincus Fund for Hunger Relief
• Acme Foundation
• Albertson’s Foundation
• Philabundance/Starbucks Foodshare
• Philadelphia Foundation
• Sandmeyer Steel, Inc.

Together, we can make the impact that Northeast Philadelphia deserves and needs!