The long hours and days that go into preparing to run a food pantry for one day are often overlooked. One day of action often has several days of planning behind it. What happens the day of, a blur of activity and action, suddenly comes to an end and can feel like it only lasted an instant. The preparations however, begin in advance to ensure the maximum number of people can benefit and things run as smoothly as possible.
Humanity First Philadelphia began preparing its food pantry on Friday, April 17th. The stockpile at the pantry was assessed and divided into packets that would be handed out to families. Volunteers carefully packed supplies while others canvassed the surrounding neighbourhoods to let people know about the campaign.
On the morning of Saturday, April 18th, twenty two volunteers organized all the supplies, set up stations, and were ready and waiting for people to come and pick up their supplies. This was the second food pantry for the month of April and fifty families were helped. Nine reserved their orders online, five via telephone, fourteen were walk ins, and twenty seven bags were delivered to families in low income neighbourhoods who could not come in person to pick up their bags.
This dedicated band of volunteers ensured the smooth delivery of essential supplies to Philadelphia’s needy and in this critical time, provided an important service to the most vulnerable in their city.