Food Banks

Amoveo Group Project in Philadelphia Region

Why

Studies done by the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania show that food insecurity in the city of Philadelphia is much higher than in the neighboring suburban counties. The true challenge of addressing food insecurity is that it is a symptom of larger issues of poverty, racism and systemic inequality. Addressing those issues will remain priorities for the public health community for the foreseeable future.

What

This project has allowed Amoveo Group to provide food access at three different locations throughout the Philadelphia area. Over 400 families visit one of our locations each month to access the food they need to make it through the month. Amoveo works with each of these families to help discover the challenges they face in providing food security. We Empower People for Lasting Change: We believe lasting change is more likely, for all involved, when every-day people contribute beyond donating money.

How

Pastor Alves is the leader of a small congregation in the Olney section of Philadelphia. Most of his congregation came to the US as refugees. When the pandemic hit, he asked if The Amoveo Group had access to food. He told of families that were desperate for food. Amoveo Group was able to raise some money and gather some volunteers to repurpose a room in his church building into a food pantry. We purchased some freezers to store the cold food. On the first delivery day, a man named Rhit was there to pick up food. He was born in Cambodia and moved to the US almost 30 years ago. He lost his job during the pandemic. When the church advertised that food was available for the community he jumped at the opportunity. He credits the church with providing enough food to survive these past few months. Rhit and over three dozen of his neighbors are benefitting from the food provided by the Olney food pantry.

Ongoing, we are looking for construction trip participants who can help repurpose existing facilities to increase the effectiveness of the food bank. Would you be willing to take a trip to Philadelphia with your group to help in this process? You can register or enquire more on the Registration tab.

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