EAST NORRITON — Kindness and generosity can feed one’s soul, but in this act of giving, those virtues will also feed the hungry.
Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (CSS) announced recently it has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Connelly Foundation benefiting Martha’s Choice Marketplace. Martha’s Choice Marketplace is located at CSS’ Montgomery County Family Service Center at Johnson Highway and New Hope Street in East Norriton (on the grounds of St. Paul’s RC Church).
The grant will be used for general operating support over two years (2022 and 2023). It will positively impact Martha’s Choice Marketplace’s mission of offering a dignified grocery shopping experience where those in need and facing food insecurity can shop for food of their choosing.
In 2021, at the height of the COVID pandemic, Martha’s Choice Marketplace completed nearly 10,000 household food pantry distributions to food insecure families consisting of approximately 35,000 individuals. Nearly 1.3 million pounds of food was distributed.
Director Eli Wenger said at the time, “We had to change the whole operational procedure as far as how we do things, like totally revamping the entire space because we needed social distancing and we can no longer allow people to shop –we were always a choice model pantry where people shop like a grocery store – and now we’re a drive-thru distribution.”
Clients must reside in Montgomery County and also meet the requirements of Pennsylvania’s federally funded emergency assistance food program.
“We went from serving about 250 people per week to 700 per week,” Wenger noted. “We’d never seen anything like it, literally a 200 percent increase in what we were giving out, going from about 80,000 pounds per month to 200,000 pounds of food per month. When the pandemic hit a lot of people were coming here for the first time, who never needed to utilize a food pantry before and all of a sudden found themselves out of work. So that was a real eye opener in terms of people experiencing hunger for the first time, which is an awful thing, but also realizing that a lot people needed that service.”
The choice model was a point of pride in the pantry’s operation, Wenger said.
“We were receiving that food through what we call ‘grocery store rescue,’ which is essentially going to grocery stores and picking up soon to expire goods, cases of meat and produce that might have a shorter life span than some of the new produce that they just got in that day …so that their shelves were the freshest of fresh and then our stuff, which might not be as pretty as the new stuff but is still great stuff. That’s what we would normally have given out, which would allow the choice that included all different kinds of products. That went away because, at least initially, people were scared of the touch contact, spreading of the virus. But I think people have come around to the realizing that it doesn’t happen through that method to the degree that we feared. But at least initially, everyone was scared of that, so we stopped getting foods from area grocery stores, and they stopped taking donations because they were sold out of everything because people were trying to hoard groceries. Therefore, our supply changed.”
Through its Martha’s Community Farm initiative, located on the property of the former St. Gabriel’s Hall in Lower Providence, Martha’s Choice Marketplace also harvested 5,000 pounds of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, leeks, herbs, and peppers. This community-based response further supplements households benefitting from Martha’s Choice Marketplace and supports its network of food pantries throughout Montgomery County.
“The St. Gabe’s program did a lot of good here but it is a valuable piece of property and by selling it the Archdiocese realized they could fund all these other programs, so they made the decision to sell the farm,” Wenger said last year when the farm was newly operational. “It’s a matter of growing some really delicious food, get that out to all the different pantries in the area, use that as the basis for doing a bigger step next year. We’re really learning how to farm this year. Up to now, it’s been a lot of planting but what we need now are volunteers. Farming is hard,” he added, laughing. “This is like a village, a chance for people to get together and interact.”.
In addition to distributing food, Martha’s Choice Marketplace also provides a holistic approach to hunger prevention by offering nutritional education and personal empowerment opportunities uplifting each client’s dignity.
New program innovations at Martha’s Choice Marketplace are forthcoming and include full choice online ordering at the food pantry as well as increased crop production this spring at the farm.
For more information on Martha’s Choice Marketplace, visit http://marthaschoicemarketplace.com/. Those interested in volunteering at the Community Farm or making a financial contribution to support the work of Martha’s Choice Marketplace can visit https://marthaschoicemarketplace.com/community-farm/ for more information.
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February 08, 2022 at 10:06PM
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Martha’s Choice Marketplace receives $30,000 grant from Connelly Foundation - The Times Herald
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