Autumn is the time to re-stock our pantries with ingredients needed for holiday celebrations and hearty cold-weather meals.
While we are filling our kitchens with winter food supplies, Philabundance needs help stocking its shelves for the hundreds of thousands of our neighbors who need assistance feeding their families all year long.
SEPTA customers can help the Authority stock the shelves of Philabundance by participating in SEPTA’s seventh annual “Stop Hunger at Your Station” food drive from October 19-30. The items collected during the drive will ensure that local food banks served by Philabundance are full of necessary foodstuffs during the winter months.
“There are 750,000 people in the Philadelphia region struggling with hunger issues, many of whom ride the SEPTA system every day,” said SEPTA General Manager Jeffrey D. Knueppel. “The items we collect through the ‘Stop Hunger at Your Station’ food drive are crucial in helping Philabundance feed families across our region by keeping the shelves filled and the doors of its member agencies open.”
SEPTA employee ambassadors and Philabundance volunteers kicked off the “Stop Hunger at Your Station” drive today at a rally at Dilworth Park.
Philabundance provides food to approximately 90,000 people per week in nine counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey through approximately 400 member agencies such as food cupboards, shelters and emergency kitchens. Of the low-income area residents served by the organization, 15 percent are senior citizens and 30 percent are children.
“We are truly grateful to be the beneficiary for the seventh year of SEPTA’s ‘Stop Hunger at Your Station’ food drive and fundraiser,” said Glenn Bergman, executive director, Philabundance. “If we’re going to end hunger, we have to do it together. We can’t do it alone. Thanks to partners like SEPTA, we’re closer than ever to collaboratively meeting that goal of helping feed all of our neighbors in need.”
From October 19-30, SEPTA will collect donations of canned goods in marked barrels at 43 designated stations throughout the transit system. CCT customers wishing to participate will be able to give their canned good contributions to their vehicle operator.
In 2014, SEPTA’s customers and employees contributed nearly18 tons — more than 12,000 pounds of food — and collected more than $11,000 in donations. Since 2009, SEPTA customers and employees have donated more than 100 tons (100,000 pounds) of food and $40,000 — that’s almost 200,000 meals for families across the Greater Philadelphia region. The community can participate in the 2015 drive by contributing the following items:
- Canned/ Shelf-stable tuna
- Canned Pasta
- Canned Beef Stew
- Canned Chili
- Creamy Peanut Butter (plastic containers only, please)
- Jelly (plastic containers only, please)
- Canned Green Beans
- Canned Corn
- Canned Fruit
The public can also help feed neighbors in need by making a donation to Philabundance online at www.philabundance.org/septa, or by contributing $10 by texting “Food” to 41010. For every dollar donated, Philabundance can provide two meals. Any monetary contribution will count toward the total collected through the SEPTA 2015 campaign.
Philabundance is the Greater Philadelphia region’s largest hunger-relief organization. In 2014, Philabundance distributed 30 million pounds of food across the Delaware Valley.
