Fighting hunger, today and every day

Nov. 23—WILKES-BARRE — As families gather to celebrate Thanksgiving today, there are many who struggle to put food on their tables.

The Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO) recently held their 44th annual Thanksgiving Project — the oldest and largest holiday program in northeastern Pennsylvania.

This year, CEO Executive Director Jennifer Warabak said food for a traditional holiday meal was provided to 6,889 families including nearly 3,000 elderly and more than 8,650 children.

“Fighting food insecurity for our neighbors in need is an important part of our mission,” Warabak said. “With the rising cost of food and other basic needs, this year’s Thanksgiving Project means even more. These events give local families the opportunity to share in a holiday that represents the bounty of our nation.

Bags contained fresh produce — a bag of potatoes, a bag of carrots, a bag of onions, a bag of apples and a bag of sweet potatoes. Also in the bag was a pre-made box containing cranberry sauce, gravy mix, stuffing mix, raisins, walnuts, canned corn, canned green beans, corn bread mix and pumpkin mix). Each family received a turkey as well.

Warabak said Thanksgiving is an easy way to visualize CEO’s mission of People Helping People.

“We had more than 1,100 volunteers contribute nearly 4,000 hours of time to make this incredible event possible,” Warabak said. “Without these volunteers, our donors and sponsors, along with our dedicated staff, a food distribution event of this magnitude would not have been possible.”

Warabak said CEO is grateful to the ASM Global team at Mohegan Sun Arena for hosting the two-day event.

“In addition to the event location, we received in-kind donations of trucking services from Penske, fork lifts from Action Lift, as well as a box packing site for the month prior to the event from Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services,” Warabak said. “The event’s platinum sponsors included Wegmans, Weis Markets, PA American Water, and Discover NEPA.”

Partnerships are key to meeting the rising demand for help.

“CEO fights hunger all year-round,” Warabak said. “It’s never too late to donate or volunteer,”

For more information, or to get involved, visit CEO online at — www.ceopeoplehelpingpeople.org — or call 570-826-0510.

Food Dignity program

Clancy Harrison, founder of the Food Dignity Movement, said the program supports dignity at all stages of the food cycle, from creation to consumption.

“Farmers are supported for the value they bring, nonprofits are aided in their missions, fresh food is treated with care, and people in need have access to quality, health-giving nourishment,” Harrison said.

“If produce sits in warehouses, it is not on someone’s plate and it will spoil.”

Harrison said supporting our Pennsylvania agriculture economy is important for everyone, not just people who cannot afford the fresh produce.

“If we do not support our local farmers, we will lose their critical link to our land and our economy,” Harrison said. “At Food Dignity, we invest hard-earned donations and tax dollars into our local food supply chain.”

Unlike other programs that purchase produce that is at the end of its life to fight hunger, Harrison said Food Dignity provides funds to farmers in Pennsylvania so they can sow, grow, gather, butcher, and harvest food directly for hunger relief.

“We pay the farmer’s price and do not ask for handouts or donations,” she said.

Food Dignity Program Growth

—Initially served 1,200-1,700 individuals on a weekly basis by connecting nonprofit partners to farmers. Four months ago, Food Dignity started hosting “take-what-you-need, pay-what-you-can” farm stands.

“The stands reached 2,750 individuals and families over the first two months,” Harrison said. “In the third month, we served 2,500 in one month. The need for these stands and recognition of this work is growing quickly.”

—Initially started out with eight organizational partners and now the program provides regional agriculture to 20-plus organizations and more continue to request Food Dignity’s services.

“Local nonprofits continue to reach out to us because they do not have access to fresh produce or enough food for their clients,” Harrison said.

—Originally began partnerships with six farmers and now serve 24-plus farming partners.

—As of the beginning October 2023, Food Dignity has reinvested more than $78,000 back into regional farmers and food vendors.

“By this time next year, we’re hoping to reinvest over $300,000 back into the local agricultural economy,” Harrison said. “This investment has allowed farmers to sell crops that would have otherwise gone to waste, extend their growing season, improve their growing practices to better serve the entire NEPA community, and find new revenue streams for their products.”

Harrison said Food Dignity’s investment allows its organizational and nonprofit partners:

—To serve their marginalized populations and clients locally-sourced, healthy produce and other agricultural foods.

—Increases the number of participants at their community events like career fairs.

—Increases the amount of people they provide wrap-around care for.

—Grows collaboration and organizational referrals between partnering nonprofits, while allowing nonprofits to invest more of their financial resources back into the populations they serve and achieve their organization’s strategic outcomes.

“The individuals these nonprofits serve are happier, healthier, less stressed, and love our fresh food,” Harrison said. “Evaluation of our food equity fellows (who lead most of our on-the-ground work) has shown an increase in confidence while working with those suffering from food insecurity and poverty.”

2023 Food Dignity Think Tank results

Harrison said close to 50 leaders representing 30 different NEPA organizations came together for Food Dignity’s third Think Tank strategy session in November.

“Collectively, everyone’s goal is to increase food equity across NEPA,” Harrison said. “We worked together to identify growth areas., new collaborations, gaps that need to be filled in the community service arena, food access opportunities, and resources we share as a network of farmers, businesses, and nonprofits.”

MamaBird program also growing

Melissa Obuch, who founded MamaBird in the fall of 2022, said the program began simply as a way to pay-it-forward to support the women and children of the Back Mountain.

“Our hope as a non-profit is to provide necessities such as diapers, wipes and feminine hygiene supplies to those in need,” Obuch said. “Providing these essentials is our way of investing in our community, because we truly believe that no mother should ever be unable to support their basic needs as well as their child’s.”

In October MamaBird celebrated its one-year anniversary and in this short amount of time Obuch said MamaBird has helped more than 800 local families by providing nearly $25,000 worth of diapers and feminine hygiene products.

“With 20 to 30 families requesting help per week, we’re working towards opening the first diaper and feminine hygiene product bank in the Back Mountain in order to better meet the growing needs of our community,” Obuch said. “We’ve also expanded our products to cover Depends and other sanitary options for the elderly.”

As far as food goes, Obuch said MamaBird is seeing an increased number in requests for assistance.

“With the increasing costs of groceries, more and more families are relying on food banks, which are running low on supplies,” Obuch said.

To support the community, MamaBird is currently running a food drive for the Back Mountain food pantry, Fellowship Church food pantry and Harvest Church food pantry called “Compete to Beat Hunger.”

She said each family or individual that donates food is entered into a raffle for $100 gift cards to stores and restaurants in hopes to get the members of the community more involved and raise awareness.

“For the month of December, we’re raising money to purchase $2,500 worth of grocery gift cards to feed local families through the holidays,” Obuch said.

From the heart

Obuch, 38, spent 17 years as a critical care nurse. She said part of her job involved community engagement and injury prevention. She left that job to start MamaBird to help families in need.

“I believe that every woman and child, regardless of their ethnicity and background, should live a complete life with their essential needs fulfilled,” Obuch said. “The thought of a child lacking diapers, an adolescent without hygiene products, and a family without food is unfathomable. In situations where they have no recourse, it becomes the duty of the community to step forward and offer that crucial support.”

Obuch said she spent the last 20 years helping women and children around the globe, but when she saw the economic hardships families in her community were facing, she decided to focus her efforts on those living in her own back yard.

“A mother went to work today because we gave her diapers to send with her child to daycare,” Obuch said. “A teenage girl went to school today because we gave her feminine hygiene products. An elderly woman went to an appointment today because we gave her incontinence products. Our work not only impacts the lives of those directly impacted but contributes to a healthier and socially responsible community.”

Obuch said her nursing career and experience as a mother has opened her eyes to the disparities women and children face, but also the resilience they carry when met with compassion.

“Altruism is the heartbeat of humanity, which shapes us into a compassionate society where caring for one another becomes our shared purpose,” Obuch said.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle