January 15, 2024 • 31 mins
This week, Krista Renenger from Helping Harvest Food Bank joins the podcast to discuss food insecurity and hunger in South Central PA, and how they're working to help. SHOW NOTES: Helping Harvest website Helping Harvest Facebook page Feeding America: Hunger Facts Food Research and Action Center: Information on Hunger
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cassy (00:07):
Hi and welcome to the south central PA mom, Fireflies and whoopee pie podcast where
we discuss motherhood, local events, andeverything in between right here in south
central Pa.
So sit back, grab a coffee a while, and settle
in for the show.
(00:27):
Hi, everyone.
Welcome back to another episode.
This week we have Krista Renegar with helpingharvest fresh food bank with us to talk about
how you can help people fight hunger in thesouth central Pa area.
Krista, thanks for coming this week.
Krista (00:43):
Thanks, Cassandra.
Really happy to be here.
Cassy (00:46):
So can you tell me a little bit about helping harvest?
Krista (00:49):
Sure. So we are the food bank for Berks and Schukel counties.
Those are the counties we serve.
We're part of the feeding America network of
food banks across the country.
We've been around for 40 years serving the
community.
The need right now has never been higher.
We really experienced a surge during thepandemic, which went back down a little bit,
(01:14):
but it's really remarkable the amount of needwe're seeing in the community.
So we serve over 350 different partneragencies.
And I can explain a little bit about how afood bank works for people not familiar.
People see a lot of food pantries out in theneighborhood, maybe a neighborhood church or
(01:38):
community center.
And we're sort of the centralized organization
that serves a lot of those smaller foodpantries.
Wow, okay.
Cassy (01:48):
Yeah, we have one of those at a church right up the street from me.
And I honestly had no idea that that wassomething that was stocked by a food bank.
I thought it was just people kind of went andgave food to it.
Krista (02:01):
Right.
And that's kind of how food banking started
with a lot of, in the faith communities,people saw a need in their own communities and
started smaller pantries.
And around 30, 40 years ago, a lot of food
banks started springing up because there was aneed to do it more efficiently.
And some pantries out there that you see mightjust be their own pantry getting local
(02:26):
donations, but many of them, most of them areserved by a food bank.
And what that does is allow a greaterefficiency in how food is funneled to them.
We get food from a lot of different sources.
So a big part of us is the emergency Food
(02:48):
Assistance program, TFAP.
It's a federal government program that started
back in the early eighty s to meet the foodneeds in the community.
So we have the charter to serve that in Berkscounty, and we receive food through that.
But that's just one avenue.
The USDA has other programs, the Department of
(03:10):
Agriculture, that serve specifically seniors.
There's food through Pennsylvania that allows
us to purchase food from local farmers so thatfood doesn't go to waste.
In addition, we know food drives that youmight have at your child's school.
Those items come to us and retail donationsare another big thing.
(03:33):
So we go out every week to all your localgrocery stores, your big box stores and
collect from them things that are stillabsolutely safe to serve and ready to go out,
but for whatever reason might be slightlydamaged or it might be just near the
expiration.
And in that way, food banks serve as the
biggest food rescue organization in any countybecause they're gathering of that food and it
(03:59):
would be tossed by the retail people.
But it doesn't need to go in the landfill.
It's perfectly safe to eat.
In addition, we purchase more food than we
ever have before because again, between allthose other sources, there's a gap between
what the needs are in the community and whatthose other sources are able to serve.
(04:19):
So we're purchasing more food than ever, butwe're able to purchase it at huge discounts
because we're getting tractor trailers full.
Your wholesalers are selling it to us at a
very good deal because they know what's goingout to community.
So in that way our purchasing dollars can go alot farther.
Cassy (04:41):
Now, I know that we're recording this and it's just after the holiday season is kind
of ending.
And the holidays are usually like a really big
time of year when everyone wants to go andstart volunteering and donating and that's on
their mind, which is great, right?Because of course, people who are dealing with
(05:01):
food insecurity or poverty still deserve tohave a nice holiday season.
But the need doesn't stop.
Krista (05:09):
Absolutely.
Cassy (05:10):
When the holidays are over.
So what is it like the rest of the year for
you?
Krista (05:15):
That's a great question.
And we're busy all year long.
So yes, the holidays are something where wetry to do a little extra.
This year we gave out over 6000 turkeys andholiday boxes to go along with those turkeys.
So people had all the fixings to make a fullmeal at home.
(05:36):
But the rest of the year there is not a monththat we're not busy.
Things shift through the year on what we'recollecting and giving out with the season.
So in the summer we are stock full of freshproduce coming off of the farms and giving
that out.
We have a great partnership with a potato
farmer who harvestes potatoes for us.
(05:59):
So we're giving those out all summer long
we've made adjustments to, we have a 50,000foot warehouse that has multiple freezers and
refrigerators.
We did a big capital project a few years ago
to add freezer and refrigeration space that'sactually able to switch from a freezer to a
(06:21):
refrigerator.
And that's great because in the summertime we
were so bursting with produce that sometimeswe had to turn it away.
We'd have a farmer going, I have all thisexcess, I can't sell it.
Can I bring it in?And sometimes we were too full.
So now we don't have that problem.
And that allows us to switch in the holiday
times where we're gathering up those frozenturkeys and frozen hams for the holidays, we
(06:44):
can switch it to a freezer.
So, yeah, all year long we are busy.
We have volunteers in our warehouse who helpus pack up holiday boxes, emergency boxes,
senior boxes, produce bags, and they're inhere.
We run two shifts a day, Monday throughFriday.
(07:05):
And our volunteers, we have enough volunteersthat are the equivalent of nine full time
staff hours.
So that's how many hours of time our
volunteers give to us.
We could absolutely not do what we do without
all that time they give.
Cassy (07:22):
Now is there for people who are listening and they're thinking, oh, well, what
can I do to volunteer?What are the kind of needs that you have for
volunteers?
Krista (07:32):
That's a great question.
So we have all sorts of things.
The biggest, again, is in the warehouse.
We run a morning and an afternoon shift.
We occasionally have some Saturdays.
They're a little bit rare.
People can go on our website,helpingharvest.org, and click on the volunteer
Apple and sign up to learn all of ourofferings.
(07:54):
But what it involves, usually in ourwarehouse, is just you're repacking food to go
out.
So we receive donations of all sorts of types
of food and we package them together so thatit's easy for a food pantry to hand out.
So they might be packing bags of producetogether that are going to be handed out at
one of our mobile markets, which is a drivethrough distribution.
(08:17):
Or they might be handed out to a churchpantry.
They might be packing what we call thememergency boxes.
That's a box of shelf stable food that goesout so someone who has an emergent need can
get that box of shelf stable food.
We also need volunteers all the time at our
(08:38):
mobile markets, which again, are drive updistributions throughout Berks and Schuchel.
We run 23 of those every month.
And for that, they kind of exploded during the
pandemic because we've moved to more.
No contact or low contact, but they remain
really popular.
(08:59):
So we come to a location, we have a truck full
of food.
We have volunteers set them up on folding
tables, and people drive up and we loadeverything in the trunk.
And usually at a distribution like that, youmight be getting 40 to 50 pounds of food for a
household.
It takes a lot of volunteers to get that done
efficiently.
(09:19):
So that's a great thing.
We have a lot of recent retirees who startvolunteering with us and just love it.
We also do have some needs for in the office,people to make help with referral calls, tell
people where they can find food, people tohelp us with paperwork, because there's a lot
(09:40):
of paperwork involved in giving out the food.
To volunteer in the warehouse, to be there
alone, a kid, a student would need to be over16.
They can come in with a parent if they're overtwelve.
So just so I know, sometimes people arelooking for things with their younger kids and
the warehouse, we're running equipment, wehave reach trucks and pallet jacks and those
(10:05):
sort of things.
So we do need the kids to be a little older,
but it's a great way to get them seeing whatit is to give back to their community.
So we're always happy to have parents in aswell with their kids.
Cassy (10:19):
Yeah, that's definitely something that I know I grew up with my mother doing.
And I agree.
I think it's really important for people who
do have a more privileged.
By privileged, I don't mean necessarily
wealthy, but if you're not worrying about foodinsecurity or hunger, then I mean that by
(10:43):
itself, you're in a better position than a lotof other people are.
Krista (10:47):
Absolutely.
Cassy (10:47):
And if you can help those people, then you should.
Because that's just one of those basic humanthings that we should be doing, is helping the
other members in our community who are inneed.
Krista (10:59):
And I think anyone's situation can change at any time.
So there may be times in your life when you'reable to give back, and there may be times when
you need help.
And that's why we're here.
There's no judgment.
Everyone can need a helping hand at some point
in their life, and that's why we're here.
Cassy (11:20):
And especially with this economy right now, the way that things are.
We've seen in recent years that the middleclass is essentially gone.
And there's so many people in this country whoare just a paycheck away from, well, now I
can't feed my kids.
Now I might end up being evicted from my
(11:41):
house.
Krista (11:42):
Absolutely.
All it takes is a job loss or an injury to
temporary change your economic situation.
And if it's a couple of months that you could
use this help, that's fine.
Again, that's why we're here.
If it's longer term, we have a lot of seniorswho, again, with just the rates of inflation,
(12:04):
what that's done to their housing costs, theirfood budget.
We've all seen how expensive it is to feed ourfamilies when we go to the grocery store.
And for some, it just makes that line thatmuch more challenging.
Cassy (12:19):
Oh, absolutely.
It was a running joke all year.
The price of eggs.
Krista (12:24):
Yes.
Cassy (12:29):
Everything has gotten so much more expensive.
And so for someone who I can definitely seefor a senior, you're on a fixed income and now
the price of food is suddenly skyrocketed.
What are you going to do?
Krista (12:43):
Right.
And that's where we have different programs
that are available.
We have a senior box program that's
administered by the state of Pennsylvaniawhere someone 60 and over who's income
qualified can get a box of shelf stable foodonce a month.
They pick it up somewhere near them.
(13:03):
They also get some dairy products, and we add
in extra produce whenever we can.
So that's something that a lot of people
really rely on.
It's a very popular program.
There's actually a waiting list for it.
We're constantly trying to expand our numbers,
but we do over 2000 of those senior boxesevery month in Berks and Schukel County.
Cassy (13:31):
I don't know what people typically think of when they think of people who use a
food bank, but what are the kinds of peoplethat rely on your programs?
Who are the members of our communities thatare being served?
Krista (13:46):
So absolutely anyone you could think of.
So we're dealing with everyone from peopleliving in chronic poverty for whatever
reasons.
Again, seniors who have just seen their fixed
income not go as far.
We have people who just recently experienced a
(14:07):
job loss or an injury.
And families, it's a lot of families that
they're just not making enough to make endsmeet.
For the emergency food assistance program, youneed to be under 185% of the poverty line.
(14:29):
If you look up those charts, it's not a lot.
So like a family of four, I believe it's just
under $55,000 a year that qualifies you forfood assistance.
And again, like your point, what we think ofas middle class, it's challenging, even with
(14:51):
two incomes or three incomes in a home,depending on how many families are changing.
So how many children do you have?Do you have an aunt or uncle or cousin
temporarily living with you?We see everything.
And I think that's the hard part about it.
Anyone at any time could find themselves
(15:13):
needing this assistance.
Cassy (15:19):
And what are, I don't know how many people have seen these viral posts that go
around on Facebook every now and then and ittalks know, oh, these are the things that
know, like feminine products, those never getdonated and so on.
What are the things that are more.
Krista (15:39):
Probably because we're the food know, our number one thing is the food.
I will say a lot of our pantries give outextras and we will take those kind of extra
feminine products or shampoo and things, butsometimes that's even better just to give to
your local pantry up the street what the foodwe're looking for is really those shelf stable
(16:02):
items that are so expensive now, but yeteveryone needs.
So your peanut butter, your pasta, your ricecereals, and then all variety of canned goods.
So soups, fruits, veggies, that's our breadand butter and what we're looking for.
We try to avoid things in glass just becauseit gets challenging not to break the glass
(16:22):
between trucking it all around the county.
But again, we'll happily take anything we also
get from our retail donors.
We do get a lot of snack food.
Everyone, again, we try to pass out as muchnutritious, healthy food as we can, but
everyone needs a treat now and then.
But we get a lot of that through retail.
(16:44):
So when someone's hosting a drive, Idefinitely encourage them to go for those.
Staples of your pantry is exactly what we'relooking for.
So when you're going through your pasta andyour cereal and your rice, that's what we
need.
Cassy (17:03):
Are there any items that I don't want to say, like you get too much of?
Okay, we have a ton of box stuffing, but wereally could use more canned vegetables.
Krista (17:16):
Yeah, I wouldn't say there's anything we get too much of.
We don't necessarily love getting a lot ofsugary drinks, your sodas and your added
sugar, that's something we don't have a lot oflove for.
But of course, we'll happily take it and giveit out because again, everyone needs a treat
(17:36):
sometimes.
But yeah, there's nothing sometimes we're a
little off, right?Like, we have all the stuffing, but we're
missing the gravy.
And that's where we fill in those holes with
purchasing or asking for our retail partners.
Hey, can we buy this at cost for you from you?
Cassy (18:03):
When people are thinking about food banks and hunger, what is food insecurity in
2023?What does that look like when we say someone
needs to use a food bank, because I think thatwhen they think typically, well, hunger,
problems with hunger in America, they'rethinking someone who's got two kids and they
(18:27):
haven't eaten in three days.
But that's not really.
Krista (18:29):
No, I mean, really what food insecurity is.
Not knowing for sure where your next meal iscoming from.
Maybe not having to skip some meals, maybeespecially for parents.
A lot of times parents will skip so that theirkids can eat.
So it's really just not being sure that youhave enough to stretch that food insecurity
(18:54):
isn't starvation.
I'm not able to buy enough of the nutritious
food that I want and need to feed my family,or not being sure that you're going to be able
to do that.
So in the state of Pennsylvania, one in eleven
people face hunger.
(19:16):
Among children, it's one in eight.
So it's just like poverty.
Children experience food insecurity at a
higher rate.
In the state of Pennsylvania, 14.6% of people
participate in SNAp, otherwise known as foodstamps.
So they get that assistance to help thempurchase food on their own.
(19:39):
And that's something else food banks helpwith.
Our food bank does, and a lot of them do.
We help people with the registration process.
For staff, it's kind of a lot.
They don't make it easy.
And we have a bilingual coordinator who canwalk people through it over the phone and help
them get that application done.
(20:00):
We're not the service that decides whether or
not you're eligible, but we can help you dothat process and apply for that.
And again, that's something like food bankswould love to see more of that.
We'd love to see people having access to snapso they can go out and purchase the food that
they want.
That's important to them, that's culturally
appropriate for them, that they need to fillthe holes in their budget.
Cassy (20:26):
I think that's actually a really good point.
That doesn't get perhaps thought of very muchis the idea of cultural.
When we think of on holidays, oh, I have mytraditions and I have this and I have that.
Or when you're sick and you have chickennoodle soup and how it, like food does so much
(20:49):
more than just literally, okay, well, I needit to exist.
It nourishes you in more ways than that.
And being able to help someone who perhaps is
a refugee or an immigrant or has some kind ofother cultural background get that extra
satisfaction is really an important addedlayer, right?
Krista (21:14):
Absolutely.
Especially with produce and our retail
donations.
Sometimes we get an abundance of a food that
maybe you're not familiar with.
And we do try to educate with that.
We try to send out recipes.
If we get hikama.
Like, you may have never cooked hikama or knowwhat hikama is.
(21:35):
Or we were doing that with some of our varietyof squashes, and I was the same way.
Like, I've never tried to cook spaghettisquash because I was intimidated by it when I
ran into it in the grocery store.
So we had a bunch of that, and we will send a
recipe card out with it.
Like, what do I do with this item?
So some of it's that education that you mightwant to try something that you haven't tried
(21:58):
before.
But we try to get culturally appropriate food,
and now at every food bank we serve, we havethe diversity that is America are the
neighbors who are coming for food.
So you're not necessarily just targeting for
one thing.
(22:19):
You're trying to offer a variety and a choice
so people can choose for themselves.
This is something I'm going to use in my
kitchen.
This is what I would put in my pantry if I
were going to the grocery store.
Cassy (22:32):
Great, because when we're helping people give them that little bit of integrity,
too.
Krista (22:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
Cassy (22:43):
Where they have a choice and they can be happy about what they're getting and not
feel like, well, I just have to get whatevercast officer given to me.
Krista (22:54):
Exactly.
And a lot of our pantries are choice pantries.
It's kind of like an industry term in the foodbank, but where people are able to basically
grocery shop.
Maybe a church sets up their social hall once
a month, and there are shelves and clients cancome in and pick out this and that.
(23:19):
With the pandemic, a lot of that kind of wentaway.
Outside distributions became more popular, andthen it's trickier to do choice.
It's more of like, do you want this?Or you can say, no, if you're not going to eat
this, you can say, no, I don't want it.
I don't eat pork.
Don't give me pork.
So that's definitely something we encourage
(23:43):
for the neighbors to be able to choose to justwalk through.
And maybe we have a rack of canned vegetables,but, you know, your kids aren't going to touch
those peas, but they might take the carrots.
So that sort of thing.
And that's definitely what we strive for.
Cassy (24:04):
Now, how well, before we get into this, can you describe what a food desert is?
Krista (24:13):
I would have to double check the actual terminology, but it's living a certain
distance where you don't have access to what anormal grocery store looks like.
So maybe you have the corner store, but it'snot offering a full variety of choices.
It's not a full service grocery store.
(24:36):
It's not even a big box store like Walmart or
Target that offers groceries that you wouldhave to travel a distance to that in an urban
environment.
It's a further walk that there's not easy
transportation to get to that.
And we do have those throughout southeast
Pennsylvania.
In the rural areas, once you get into some of
(24:57):
the rural counties, people can have to reallytrack to get to grocery stores.
A lot of grocery stores have gone out ofbusiness.
So more of your dollar stores are serving asyour main source for groceries.
Cassy (25:11):
Yeah, that's what I was about to say.
How bad of an issue is our food deserts in the
area to make sure people understand what theyare?
Krista (25:21):
It's definitely a concern and definitely more up in Schukel county, we see
that where a lot of people's main source forgroceries are your family dollar, dollar
general, that kind of place.
And I think those chains have also strived to
offer more to have bananas and to have dairyproducts.
(25:44):
But it's not the same as a full servicegrocery store like your small grocery chains
or your just mom and pop grocery stores.
A lot of those have gone out of business.
Right?
Cassy (25:58):
And so that would be another instance where someone would be served with the food
bank.
Krista (26:04):
Yes. They might be finding some more variety by coming to the food bank
distribution once a month or getting some ofthe things that they don't find in those
places where they're able to get othergroceries.
(26:27):
Now.
Cassy (26:30):
If someone is wanting to get involved and to help out, what would be the way that
they could do that?
Krista (26:38):
So I would advise them to come to our website, helpingharvest.org, tour through the
site, find out a little bit more about what wedo, what programs we offer.
And I do think volunteering is a great way toget started and to see what we do firsthand.
We have a great volunteer program and thefeedback from our volunteers are just what
(27:01):
they do is so impactful and they feel it too.
It's very satisfying to know that you're
helping your neighbors in need.
So that's a great way.
Of course, we always need donations of food,of monetary donations.
So that's a great way to get feedback.
(27:23):
I'd go on our facebook page as well.
There's a link to that from our website justto see what we've been up to, because we
always have things going on.
We have volunteer groups of all types.
So if you're working and your company hasnever done that sort of thing, or they do
community service products, but you're like, Idon't think we've ever gone to a food bank.
(27:46):
Reach out.
We have company groups in all the time.
We have all sorts of clubs from schools.
We often will get a basketball team out here
or the student council.
So again, we love to have the young people in.
They've got a lot of energy, and again, it'sgreat for them to see what we do.
(28:07):
So that's where I would get started.
Cassy (28:10):
And for people who want to make food donations, what would be the easiest way for
them to do that?
Krista (28:15):
Absolutely.
So our locations on our website, we're in
Sinking Spring.
Outside of reading, we accept food donations
Monday through Friday.
09:00 a.m.
To 03:00 p.m.
If you're interested in actually hosting a
drive and getting more donations, there'sinformation for that on our website as well.
We have a whole manual of how to run a fooddrive successfully.
(28:37):
So if you are interested in setting that up atyour kids school or at your church or whatever
community group, we'll walk you through stepby step how to do that.
And that's a great way, again, to just get theword out and let others in the community know
all the things that we're doing.
(28:57):
And just to let all your listeners know, last
year alone, we gave out 9.6 million pounds offood.
My gosh.
Exactly.
It's an overwhelming number.
And that food was valued at $14.9 million.
And just to give a little bit of comparison,in 2019, before the pandemic, before all this
(29:22):
inflation, we gave out $6.6 million a pounds,million pounds.
So we went from 6.6 to 9.6.
Our biggest year was 2020.
So we've gone back down a little bit fromthat, but not to where we were beforehand.
So that's where that need is so great.
And I think during the initial stages of the
(29:44):
pandemic, there was a lot of extra governmentmoney going around.
All that is gone.
So our volunteers have really stepped up.
Our retail partners have really stepped up.
People have stepped up in their donations
because that need is just so great.
This is just where we are right now.
(30:07):
So it's changing times and we're adapting toit.
And we're so grateful for all the support wehave received in adapting to this changing
economy and changing need in the community.
Cassy (30:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
And thank you so much for appearing here today
and we will make sure to include links foryour website and Facebook page and also maybe
some more information about just foodinsecurity and know for people to learn.
Krista (30:40):
Absolutely.
Thanks so much for having me, Cassandra.
This is a lot of fun.
Great.
Cassy (30:53):
That's our episode for this week.
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Until next time.
Hi and welcome to the south central PA mom, Fireflies and whoopee pie podcast where
we discuss motherhood, local events, andeverything in between right here in south
central Pa.
So sit back, grab a coffee a while, and settle
in for the show.
(00:27):
Hi, everyone.
Welcome back to another episode.
This week we have Krista Renegar with helpingharvest fresh food bank with us to talk about
how you can help people fight hunger in thesouth central Pa area.
Krista, thanks for coming this week.
Krista (00:43):
Thanks, Cassandra.
Really happy to be here.
Cassy (00:46):
So can you tell me a little bit about helping harvest?
Krista (00:49):
Sure. So we are the food bank for Berks and Schukel counties.
Those are the counties we serve.
We're part of the feeding America network of
food banks across the country.
We've been around for 40 years serving the
community.
The need right now has never been higher.
We really experienced a surge during thepandemic, which went back down a little bit,
(01:14):
but it's really remarkable the amount of needwe're seeing in the community.
So we serve over 350 different partneragencies.
And I can explain a little bit about how afood bank works for people not familiar.
People see a lot of food pantries out in theneighborhood, maybe a neighborhood church or
(01:38):
community center.
And we're sort of the centralized organization
that serves a lot of those smaller foodpantries.
Wow, okay.
Cassy (01:48):
Yeah, we have one of those at a church right up the street from me.
And I honestly had no idea that that wassomething that was stocked by a food bank.
I thought it was just people kind of went andgave food to it.
Krista (02:01):
Right.
And that's kind of how food banking started
with a lot of, in the faith communities,people saw a need in their own communities and
started smaller pantries.
And around 30, 40 years ago, a lot of food
banks started springing up because there was aneed to do it more efficiently.
And some pantries out there that you see mightjust be their own pantry getting local
(02:26):
donations, but many of them, most of them areserved by a food bank.
And what that does is allow a greaterefficiency in how food is funneled to them.
We get food from a lot of different sources.
So a big part of us is the emergency Food
(02:48):
Assistance program, TFAP.
It's a federal government program that started
back in the early eighty s to meet the foodneeds in the community.
So we have the charter to serve that in Berkscounty, and we receive food through that.
But that's just one avenue.
The USDA has other programs, the Department of
(03:10):
Agriculture, that serve specifically seniors.
There's food through Pennsylvania that allows
us to purchase food from local farmers so thatfood doesn't go to waste.
In addition, we know food drives that youmight have at your child's school.
Those items come to us and retail donationsare another big thing.
(03:33):
So we go out every week to all your localgrocery stores, your big box stores and
collect from them things that are stillabsolutely safe to serve and ready to go out,
but for whatever reason might be slightlydamaged or it might be just near the
expiration.
And in that way, food banks serve as the
biggest food rescue organization in any countybecause they're gathering of that food and it
(03:59):
would be tossed by the retail people.
But it doesn't need to go in the landfill.
It's perfectly safe to eat.
In addition, we purchase more food than we
ever have before because again, between allthose other sources, there's a gap between
what the needs are in the community and whatthose other sources are able to serve.
(04:19):
So we're purchasing more food than ever, butwe're able to purchase it at huge discounts
because we're getting tractor trailers full.
Your wholesalers are selling it to us at a
very good deal because they know what's goingout to community.
So in that way our purchasing dollars can go alot farther.
Cassy (04:41):
Now, I know that we're recording this and it's just after the holiday season is kind
of ending.
And the holidays are usually like a really big
time of year when everyone wants to go andstart volunteering and donating and that's on
their mind, which is great, right?Because of course, people who are dealing with
(05:01):
food insecurity or poverty still deserve tohave a nice holiday season.
But the need doesn't stop.
Krista (05:09):
Absolutely.
Cassy (05:10):
When the holidays are over.
So what is it like the rest of the year for
you?
Krista (05:15):
That's a great question.
And we're busy all year long.
So yes, the holidays are something where wetry to do a little extra.
This year we gave out over 6000 turkeys andholiday boxes to go along with those turkeys.
So people had all the fixings to make a fullmeal at home.
(05:36):
But the rest of the year there is not a monththat we're not busy.
Things shift through the year on what we'recollecting and giving out with the season.
So in the summer we are stock full of freshproduce coming off of the farms and giving
that out.
We have a great partnership with a potato
farmer who harvestes potatoes for us.
(05:59):
So we're giving those out all summer long
we've made adjustments to, we have a 50,000foot warehouse that has multiple freezers and
refrigerators.
We did a big capital project a few years ago
to add freezer and refrigeration space that'sactually able to switch from a freezer to a
(06:21):
refrigerator.
And that's great because in the summertime we
were so bursting with produce that sometimeswe had to turn it away.
We'd have a farmer going, I have all thisexcess, I can't sell it.
Can I bring it in?And sometimes we were too full.
So now we don't have that problem.
And that allows us to switch in the holiday
times where we're gathering up those frozenturkeys and frozen hams for the holidays, we
(06:44):
can switch it to a freezer.
So, yeah, all year long we are busy.
We have volunteers in our warehouse who helpus pack up holiday boxes, emergency boxes,
senior boxes, produce bags, and they're inhere.
We run two shifts a day, Monday throughFriday.
(07:05):
And our volunteers, we have enough volunteersthat are the equivalent of nine full time
staff hours.
So that's how many hours of time our
volunteers give to us.
We could absolutely not do what we do without
all that time they give.
Cassy (07:22):
Now is there for people who are listening and they're thinking, oh, well, what
can I do to volunteer?What are the kind of needs that you have for
volunteers?
Krista (07:32):
That's a great question.
So we have all sorts of things.
The biggest, again, is in the warehouse.
We run a morning and an afternoon shift.
We occasionally have some Saturdays.
They're a little bit rare.
People can go on our website,helpingharvest.org, and click on the volunteer
Apple and sign up to learn all of ourofferings.
(07:54):
But what it involves, usually in ourwarehouse, is just you're repacking food to go
out.
So we receive donations of all sorts of types
of food and we package them together so thatit's easy for a food pantry to hand out.
So they might be packing bags of producetogether that are going to be handed out at
one of our mobile markets, which is a drivethrough distribution.
(08:17):
Or they might be handed out to a churchpantry.
They might be packing what we call thememergency boxes.
That's a box of shelf stable food that goesout so someone who has an emergent need can
get that box of shelf stable food.
We also need volunteers all the time at our
(08:38):
mobile markets, which again, are drive updistributions throughout Berks and Schuchel.
We run 23 of those every month.
And for that, they kind of exploded during the
pandemic because we've moved to more.
No contact or low contact, but they remain
really popular.
(08:59):
So we come to a location, we have a truck full
of food.
We have volunteers set them up on folding
tables, and people drive up and we loadeverything in the trunk.
And usually at a distribution like that, youmight be getting 40 to 50 pounds of food for a
household.
It takes a lot of volunteers to get that done
efficiently.
(09:19):
So that's a great thing.
We have a lot of recent retirees who startvolunteering with us and just love it.
We also do have some needs for in the office,people to make help with referral calls, tell
people where they can find food, people tohelp us with paperwork, because there's a lot
(09:40):
of paperwork involved in giving out the food.
To volunteer in the warehouse, to be there
alone, a kid, a student would need to be over16.
They can come in with a parent if they're overtwelve.
So just so I know, sometimes people arelooking for things with their younger kids and
the warehouse, we're running equipment, wehave reach trucks and pallet jacks and those
(10:05):
sort of things.
So we do need the kids to be a little older,
but it's a great way to get them seeing whatit is to give back to their community.
So we're always happy to have parents in aswell with their kids.
Cassy (10:19):
Yeah, that's definitely something that I know I grew up with my mother doing.
And I agree.
I think it's really important for people who
do have a more privileged.
By privileged, I don't mean necessarily
wealthy, but if you're not worrying about foodinsecurity or hunger, then I mean that by
(10:43):
itself, you're in a better position than a lotof other people are.
Krista (10:47):
Absolutely.
Cassy (10:47):
And if you can help those people, then you should.
Because that's just one of those basic humanthings that we should be doing, is helping the
other members in our community who are inneed.
Krista (10:59):
And I think anyone's situation can change at any time.
So there may be times in your life when you'reable to give back, and there may be times when
you need help.
And that's why we're here.
There's no judgment.
Everyone can need a helping hand at some point
in their life, and that's why we're here.
Cassy (11:20):
And especially with this economy right now, the way that things are.
We've seen in recent years that the middleclass is essentially gone.
And there's so many people in this country whoare just a paycheck away from, well, now I
can't feed my kids.
Now I might end up being evicted from my
(11:41):
house.
Krista (11:42):
Absolutely.
All it takes is a job loss or an injury to
temporary change your economic situation.
And if it's a couple of months that you could
use this help, that's fine.
Again, that's why we're here.
If it's longer term, we have a lot of seniorswho, again, with just the rates of inflation,
(12:04):
what that's done to their housing costs, theirfood budget.
We've all seen how expensive it is to feed ourfamilies when we go to the grocery store.
And for some, it just makes that line thatmuch more challenging.
Cassy (12:19):
Oh, absolutely.
It was a running joke all year.
The price of eggs.
Krista (12:24):
Yes.
Cassy (12:29):
Everything has gotten so much more expensive.
And so for someone who I can definitely seefor a senior, you're on a fixed income and now
the price of food is suddenly skyrocketed.
What are you going to do?
Krista (12:43):
Right.
And that's where we have different programs
that are available.
We have a senior box program that's
administered by the state of Pennsylvaniawhere someone 60 and over who's income
qualified can get a box of shelf stable foodonce a month.
They pick it up somewhere near them.
(13:03):
They also get some dairy products, and we add
in extra produce whenever we can.
So that's something that a lot of people
really rely on.
It's a very popular program.
There's actually a waiting list for it.
We're constantly trying to expand our numbers,
but we do over 2000 of those senior boxesevery month in Berks and Schukel County.
Cassy (13:31):
I don't know what people typically think of when they think of people who use a
food bank, but what are the kinds of peoplethat rely on your programs?
Who are the members of our communities thatare being served?
Krista (13:46):
So absolutely anyone you could think of.
So we're dealing with everyone from peopleliving in chronic poverty for whatever
reasons.
Again, seniors who have just seen their fixed
income not go as far.
We have people who just recently experienced a
(14:07):
job loss or an injury.
And families, it's a lot of families that
they're just not making enough to make endsmeet.
For the emergency food assistance program, youneed to be under 185% of the poverty line.
(14:29):
If you look up those charts, it's not a lot.
So like a family of four, I believe it's just
under $55,000 a year that qualifies you forfood assistance.
And again, like your point, what we think ofas middle class, it's challenging, even with
(14:51):
two incomes or three incomes in a home,depending on how many families are changing.
So how many children do you have?Do you have an aunt or uncle or cousin
temporarily living with you?We see everything.
And I think that's the hard part about it.
Anyone at any time could find themselves
(15:13):
needing this assistance.
Cassy (15:19):
And what are, I don't know how many people have seen these viral posts that go
around on Facebook every now and then and ittalks know, oh, these are the things that
know, like feminine products, those never getdonated and so on.
What are the things that are more.
Krista (15:39):
Probably because we're the food know, our number one thing is the food.
I will say a lot of our pantries give outextras and we will take those kind of extra
feminine products or shampoo and things, butsometimes that's even better just to give to
your local pantry up the street what the foodwe're looking for is really those shelf stable
(16:02):
items that are so expensive now, but yeteveryone needs.
So your peanut butter, your pasta, your ricecereals, and then all variety of canned goods.
So soups, fruits, veggies, that's our breadand butter and what we're looking for.
We try to avoid things in glass just becauseit gets challenging not to break the glass
(16:22):
between trucking it all around the county.
But again, we'll happily take anything we also
get from our retail donors.
We do get a lot of snack food.
Everyone, again, we try to pass out as muchnutritious, healthy food as we can, but
everyone needs a treat now and then.
But we get a lot of that through retail.
(16:44):
So when someone's hosting a drive, Idefinitely encourage them to go for those.
Staples of your pantry is exactly what we'relooking for.
So when you're going through your pasta andyour cereal and your rice, that's what we
need.
Cassy (17:03):
Are there any items that I don't want to say, like you get too much of?
Okay, we have a ton of box stuffing, but wereally could use more canned vegetables.
Krista (17:16):
Yeah, I wouldn't say there's anything we get too much of.
We don't necessarily love getting a lot ofsugary drinks, your sodas and your added
sugar, that's something we don't have a lot oflove for.
But of course, we'll happily take it and giveit out because again, everyone needs a treat
(17:36):
sometimes.
But yeah, there's nothing sometimes we're a
little off, right?Like, we have all the stuffing, but we're
missing the gravy.
And that's where we fill in those holes with
purchasing or asking for our retail partners.
Hey, can we buy this at cost for you from you?
Cassy (18:03):
When people are thinking about food banks and hunger, what is food insecurity in
2023?What does that look like when we say someone
needs to use a food bank, because I think thatwhen they think typically, well, hunger,
problems with hunger in America, they'rethinking someone who's got two kids and they
(18:27):
haven't eaten in three days.
But that's not really.
Krista (18:29):
No, I mean, really what food insecurity is.
Not knowing for sure where your next meal iscoming from.
Maybe not having to skip some meals, maybeespecially for parents.
A lot of times parents will skip so that theirkids can eat.
So it's really just not being sure that youhave enough to stretch that food insecurity
(18:54):
isn't starvation.
I'm not able to buy enough of the nutritious
food that I want and need to feed my family,or not being sure that you're going to be able
to do that.
So in the state of Pennsylvania, one in eleven
people face hunger.
(19:16):
Among children, it's one in eight.
So it's just like poverty.
Children experience food insecurity at a
higher rate.
In the state of Pennsylvania, 14.6% of people
participate in SNAp, otherwise known as foodstamps.
So they get that assistance to help thempurchase food on their own.
(19:39):
And that's something else food banks helpwith.
Our food bank does, and a lot of them do.
We help people with the registration process.
For staff, it's kind of a lot.
They don't make it easy.
And we have a bilingual coordinator who canwalk people through it over the phone and help
them get that application done.
(20:00):
We're not the service that decides whether or
not you're eligible, but we can help you dothat process and apply for that.
And again, that's something like food bankswould love to see more of that.
We'd love to see people having access to snapso they can go out and purchase the food that
they want.
That's important to them, that's culturally
appropriate for them, that they need to fillthe holes in their budget.
Cassy (20:26):
I think that's actually a really good point.
That doesn't get perhaps thought of very muchis the idea of cultural.
When we think of on holidays, oh, I have mytraditions and I have this and I have that.
Or when you're sick and you have chickennoodle soup and how it, like food does so much
(20:49):
more than just literally, okay, well, I needit to exist.
It nourishes you in more ways than that.
And being able to help someone who perhaps is
a refugee or an immigrant or has some kind ofother cultural background get that extra
satisfaction is really an important addedlayer, right?
Krista (21:14):
Absolutely.
Especially with produce and our retail
donations.
Sometimes we get an abundance of a food that
maybe you're not familiar with.
And we do try to educate with that.
We try to send out recipes.
If we get hikama.
Like, you may have never cooked hikama or knowwhat hikama is.
(21:35):
Or we were doing that with some of our varietyof squashes, and I was the same way.
Like, I've never tried to cook spaghettisquash because I was intimidated by it when I
ran into it in the grocery store.
So we had a bunch of that, and we will send a
recipe card out with it.
Like, what do I do with this item?
So some of it's that education that you mightwant to try something that you haven't tried
(21:58):
before.
But we try to get culturally appropriate food,
and now at every food bank we serve, we havethe diversity that is America are the
neighbors who are coming for food.
So you're not necessarily just targeting for
one thing.
(22:19):
You're trying to offer a variety and a choice
so people can choose for themselves.
This is something I'm going to use in my
kitchen.
This is what I would put in my pantry if I
were going to the grocery store.
Cassy (22:32):
Great, because when we're helping people give them that little bit of integrity,
too.
Krista (22:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
Cassy (22:43):
Where they have a choice and they can be happy about what they're getting and not
feel like, well, I just have to get whatevercast officer given to me.
Krista (22:54):
Exactly.
And a lot of our pantries are choice pantries.
It's kind of like an industry term in the foodbank, but where people are able to basically
grocery shop.
Maybe a church sets up their social hall once
a month, and there are shelves and clients cancome in and pick out this and that.
(23:19):
With the pandemic, a lot of that kind of wentaway.
Outside distributions became more popular, andthen it's trickier to do choice.
It's more of like, do you want this?Or you can say, no, if you're not going to eat
this, you can say, no, I don't want it.
I don't eat pork.
Don't give me pork.
So that's definitely something we encourage
(23:43):
for the neighbors to be able to choose to justwalk through.
And maybe we have a rack of canned vegetables,but, you know, your kids aren't going to touch
those peas, but they might take the carrots.
So that sort of thing.
And that's definitely what we strive for.
Cassy (24:04):
Now, how well, before we get into this, can you describe what a food desert is?
Krista (24:13):
I would have to double check the actual terminology, but it's living a certain
distance where you don't have access to what anormal grocery store looks like.
So maybe you have the corner store, but it'snot offering a full variety of choices.
It's not a full service grocery store.
(24:36):
It's not even a big box store like Walmart or
Target that offers groceries that you wouldhave to travel a distance to that in an urban
environment.
It's a further walk that there's not easy
transportation to get to that.
And we do have those throughout southeast
Pennsylvania.
In the rural areas, once you get into some of
(24:57):
the rural counties, people can have to reallytrack to get to grocery stores.
A lot of grocery stores have gone out ofbusiness.
So more of your dollar stores are serving asyour main source for groceries.
Cassy (25:11):
Yeah, that's what I was about to say.
How bad of an issue is our food deserts in the
area to make sure people understand what theyare?
Krista (25:21):
It's definitely a concern and definitely more up in Schukel county, we see
that where a lot of people's main source forgroceries are your family dollar, dollar
general, that kind of place.
And I think those chains have also strived to
offer more to have bananas and to have dairyproducts.
(25:44):
But it's not the same as a full servicegrocery store like your small grocery chains
or your just mom and pop grocery stores.
A lot of those have gone out of business.
Right?
Cassy (25:58):
And so that would be another instance where someone would be served with the food
bank.
Krista (26:04):
Yes. They might be finding some more variety by coming to the food bank
distribution once a month or getting some ofthe things that they don't find in those
places where they're able to get othergroceries.
(26:27):
Now.
Cassy (26:30):
If someone is wanting to get involved and to help out, what would be the way that
they could do that?
Krista (26:38):
So I would advise them to come to our website, helpingharvest.org, tour through the
site, find out a little bit more about what wedo, what programs we offer.
And I do think volunteering is a great way toget started and to see what we do firsthand.
We have a great volunteer program and thefeedback from our volunteers are just what
(27:01):
they do is so impactful and they feel it too.
It's very satisfying to know that you're
helping your neighbors in need.
So that's a great way.
Of course, we always need donations of food,of monetary donations.
So that's a great way to get feedback.
(27:23):
I'd go on our facebook page as well.
There's a link to that from our website justto see what we've been up to, because we
always have things going on.
We have volunteer groups of all types.
So if you're working and your company hasnever done that sort of thing, or they do
community service products, but you're like, Idon't think we've ever gone to a food bank.
(27:46):
Reach out.
We have company groups in all the time.
We have all sorts of clubs from schools.
We often will get a basketball team out here
or the student council.
So again, we love to have the young people in.
They've got a lot of energy, and again, it'sgreat for them to see what we do.
(28:07):
So that's where I would get started.
Cassy (28:10):
And for people who want to make food donations, what would be the easiest way for
them to do that?
Krista (28:15):
Absolutely.
So our locations on our website, we're in
Sinking Spring.
Outside of reading, we accept food donations
Monday through Friday.
09:00 a.m.
To 03:00 p.m.
If you're interested in actually hosting a
drive and getting more donations, there'sinformation for that on our website as well.
We have a whole manual of how to run a fooddrive successfully.
(28:37):
So if you are interested in setting that up atyour kids school or at your church or whatever
community group, we'll walk you through stepby step how to do that.
And that's a great way, again, to just get theword out and let others in the community know
all the things that we're doing.
(28:57):
And just to let all your listeners know, last
year alone, we gave out 9.6 million pounds offood.
My gosh.
Exactly.
It's an overwhelming number.
And that food was valued at $14.9 million.
And just to give a little bit of comparison,in 2019, before the pandemic, before all this
(29:22):
inflation, we gave out $6.6 million a pounds,million pounds.
So we went from 6.6 to 9.6.
Our biggest year was 2020.
So we've gone back down a little bit fromthat, but not to where we were beforehand.
So that's where that need is so great.
And I think during the initial stages of the
(29:44):
pandemic, there was a lot of extra governmentmoney going around.
All that is gone.
So our volunteers have really stepped up.
Our retail partners have really stepped up.
People have stepped up in their donations
because that need is just so great.
This is just where we are right now.
(30:07):
So it's changing times and we're adapting toit.
And we're so grateful for all the support wehave received in adapting to this changing
economy and changing need in the community.
Cassy (30:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
And thank you so much for appearing here today
and we will make sure to include links foryour website and Facebook page and also maybe
some more information about just foodinsecurity and know for people to learn.
Krista (30:40):
Absolutely.
Thanks so much for having me, Cassandra.
This is a lot of fun.
Great.
Cassy (30:53):
That's our episode for this week.
New episodes will drop every Monday.
Make sure to subscribe so you never miss out.
Leave us a review and share to help other moms
find us.
Thanks for stopping by the Fireflies and
Whoopee Pie podcast, the only podcast by southcentral PA moms or south central PA moms.
Until next time.
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