$110,000 grant is from Feeding America and an Anonymous Donor

HARRISBURG, PA – The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank today announced it received a $110,000 grant from Feeding America and an anonymous donor to address food insecurity among military families and veterans through its MilitaryShare program.

The Food Bank’s MilitaryShare program was established in 2015 as a first of its kind in Pennsylvania and one of the first in the nation.  Recognizing that veterans are often hesitant to seek assistance, the Food Bank developed partnerships with trusted military service organizations. As a result, the Food Bank’s MilitaryShare distributes food to veteran and military families on-site at armories, VFW’s, and AMVET locations. The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank currently operates 38 MilitaryShare sites throughout 20 central PA counties, serving more than 5,700 individuals annually.

The grant from Feeding America and the anonymous donor will help the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank continue to provide its MilitaryShare sites with boxes of healthy shelf-stable food items and fresh items such as milk, meat, eggs and produce. It will also help the Food Bank develop best practices among all its MilitaryShare sites, refine its agreements with the sites to foster long-term sustainability, and enable the Food Bank to engage in SNAP assistance outreach with MilitaryShare clients.

“Unfortunately, hunger is an issue affecting far too many veterans and active-duty military personnel and their families in Central Pennsylvania and across the nation,” said Joe Arthur, executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. “Our MilitaryShare program is important to addressing this need, and this generous grant from Feeding America and the anonymous donor will help us modernize and expand this program, ensuring its sustainability for years to come. Veterans and members of the military help us in our nation’s time of need and it’s critical we help them in theirs. They fought for our freedom. By providing them with nutritious food to feed their families, we are fighting for their future.”

Bob Ardner, who runs the Mechanicsburg Calvary MilitaryShare makes sure his clients have access to the food they need. He regularly serves an Iraqi family who assisted U.S. Troops during the Iraq War and makes sure they have access to the Halal meat required by their diet. He also works to meet the diabetic needs of some of his clients. “As needs become known,” Bob says, “I try to work to get those we serve what they need.”

For more information on the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and its MilitaryShare program, please visit www.centralpafoodbank.org.

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