Dear Friends,

Not since the Great Depression have we witnessed such a troublesome economy. Delaware Valley residents are suffering from lay-offs and other work cut backs. Long-standing and respected companies and neighborhood stores have shuttered their doors. In our area alone, unemployment is now close to 9%.

Our struggling economy is making it difficult for people to find—and keep jobs. Today’s job market with the big changes being made in many industries make it more difficult for people to provide all the healthy foods they need for their families. Knowing all of this, we are expanding our food distribution to make sure we reach as many of our hungry neighbors as possible.

From where I sit, Philabundance provides a safety net for those in need. So we are proud to announce our Emergency Relief Initiative (ERI). ERI is a comprehensive plan to respond to the increased phone calls we receive from people who do not have enough food for their families, and the calls from our agencies telling us they cannot keep up with the increased local demand for food.

This special edition of our newsletter will summarize what we are doing to help the members of our community in need of food.

ERI focuses on three key strategies:

• Enhancing Emergency Access to needed food primarily through a new 800 Food Help Line and Emergency Food Boxes;
• Increasing Food Distribution through new and expanded programs, such as our soon-to-open Community Food Center and by doubling the number of Fresh For All sites; and
• Increasing Food Acquisition through food purchasing and urban gleaning.

As you well know, we here at Philabundance cannot accomplish any of this good work alone. We count on you to help us pull our hungry neighbors through these tough times.

You should know that your generosity of spirit in the face of your own challenges never ceases to amaze and inspire us as we work to meet the needs of so many of our Delaware Valley neighbors. We can’t thank you enough.

We look forward to your continued support as we work even harder to help feed our hungry neighbors.

Sincerely,

 

William J. Clark
President and Executive Director

P.S. Please accept our heartfelt thanks to all of you who stepped up to help us save our Milk Program. Especially in these times, we are happy to report that we have enough funding to continue supporting these local programs for at least the next two years.