The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank’s Bold Goal Grants program awards money to our partners to improve their capacity to provide more healthy, nutritious food to our neighbors in need. One partner who recently benefited from this program was HANNA’s Pantry, which is located in the Susquehanna Township High School near Harrisburg. The pantry serves 300 families a month and is administered by the HANNA Foundation. They also provide weekend “HANNA Packs” for middle school students in the district.
The first Bold Goal Grant HANNA’s Pantry received from the Food Bank in 2019 allowed them to evolve from a “small closet at the elementary school,” to the program they are today, which is a choice school pantry, built by volunteers, and affectionately called “the barn.” As the pantry expanded its membership, additional shelves were purchased, through a second Bold Goal Grant, to continue choice options that accommodate members’ diverse cultural needs. Susquehanna Township is the most diverse school district in Pennsylvania and the 15th most diverse in the nation.
Like many pantries, COVID-19 caused HANNA’s Pantry to pivot from an indoor choice pantry to an outdoor drive through pickup. To support that change in operation and increased food demands, the pantry doubled in size in the summer of 2020. The increased size enables volunteers to pre-pack up to eight different bags that consider family size and offer vegetarian, protein, gluten-free, low salt/sugar options. “Choice carts” enhance pre-packaged bags by offering additional choice of a few items. This hybrid model requires pallets, carts, and shelves of food to be moved outdoors.
HANNA’s Pantry was awarded a third Bold Goal Grant in the fall of 2020 to purchase materials to construct an awning, built by students from Dauphin County Technical School, to cover the pantry entrance, providing the needed cover for volunteers and the food they moved outside. Thanks to the Bold Goal Grant, the awning will prevent dirt, moisture, and other items from being transported into the pantry, and help to keep volunteers, guests, and partners safe.
“The Bold Goal Grants have been instrumental to our operations,” said Lori Shienvold, executive director of HANNA’s Pantry. “We thank the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank for all they do to help us feed families in the Susquehanna Township.”
The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is a resource hub for about 1,000 partner organizations across a territory more than twice the size of New Jersey. During our Crisis Response, our network served about 200,000 individuals per month, including thousands of new clients due to COVID. As we enter the recovery phase, we are hopeful that fewer of our neighbors will need our help, but we remain vigilant.