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Food insecurity on rise in Bucks County amid coronavirus outbreak

By Peg Quann ~ Posted to the Intelligencer
April 9, 2020 at 10:10 AM

Rolling Harvest Food Rescue distributes donated dairy products as Fresh Connect prepares to be open on Good Friday in Bristol Township.

The Fresh Connect outdoor food market that supplies free fresh produce to needy families in Bucks County normally doesn’t take place on Good Friday. This year it will.

Edie Kwasnoski prepares to hand out jugs of milk

Edie Kwasnoski, nutrition educator for Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, prepares to hand out jugs of milk during a Fresh Connect pickup in Ottsville on Thursday.

“Because of the need we decided to do it this Friday,” said Joseph Cuozzo, director of development for the Bucks County Opportunity Council, which runs the market on Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. in Bristol Township at the Gene and Marlene Epstein Campus of Bucks County Community College off Route 413.

“Last week and this week, we’ve seen a 40% increase,” Cuozzo said, in the number of people who came out for the free produce and other food. In Bristol Township alone last week, members of 275 households showed up. The people come early and wait in line for the distribution to begin.

The BCOC runs the program with the support of the United Way of Bucks County, Philabundance, St. Mary Medical Center and the Rolling Harvest Food Rescue.

The market also takes place noon to 1 p.m. Tuesdays in the Warminster Community Park and 11 a.m. to noon Thursdays at the intersection of routes 611 and 412 in Ottsville.

This Thursday, the food distributed in Ottsville was handed out to many motorists who stayed in their vehicles, to try to protect both the recipients and Fresh Connect personnel from spread of the coronavirus.

Rolling Harvest takes fresh foods supplied by farmers and delivers them to Fresh Connect as well as to food pantries and charitable organizations so that people in need are provided with fresh produce along with the canned and dried foods normally found at pantries.

Cathy Snyder, founder and executive director of Rolling Harvest, has seen crunch times before, when food supplies for people in need ran scarce, but the coronavirus pandemic has made those days seem plentiful compared to now.

Even in a recession there aren’t so many people out of work as there have been over the past few weeks, with businesses shut down by government order. Normally grocery shelves would be full, so that people who are working could donate to help the unemployed. Right now, she said, “it’s very serious.”

“The food chain has broken down a little bit. … Grocery stores are having trouble providing for customers,” she said, and it isn’t harvest season, so there isn’t a plenitude of fresh fruits and vegetables available for farmers to donate their excess.

“To meet the rising demand, We need more money,” she said. “So many people need food who never thought they’d be asking for food.”

Last weekend, she helped to coordinate a food distribution in the New Hope-Lambertville area for the first time. More than 120 motorists showed up, along with 143 people on foot. She estimated that 8,300 pounds of food was distributed for more than 1,000 people, including more than 300 children. Immigrants are among the hardest hit.

It’s very clear there are people who are struggling, she said.

Rolling Harvest has to buy some of the products it normally provides to charitable pantries and organizations. But there have been some notable donations, Snyder said, including from Solebury Orchards, McCaffrey’s Food Markets and Fresh from Zone 7, a farm in Ringoes, New Jersey.

Rolling Harvest volunteers were happy last week to pick up more than 500 pounds of yogurt and cheeses from the Fulper Family Farmstead in Lambertville, New Jersey, for distribution to local pantries that could distribute it quickly.

Dana McKenna, a spokeswoman for Fulper Family Farmstead, said the Rolling Harvest took the dairy products and had plans to distribute it the next day. “We just wanted to do it because of the need,” she said. “We want to donate as much as we can.”

With the help of The Deck at the Bucks County Playhouse, the farm also donated another 180 pounds of cheese and more than 60 pounds of curd to the New Britain Baptist Church food larder.

Fulper Farm has been in operation for 100 years, and has about 100 Holstein cows on its 200-plus acres.

“It’s nice to know we’re putting food in the hands of people in need. It’s nice to be here for each other,” McKenna said.

The BCOC also accepts donations and recently held two food drives, which Cuozzo said, were highly successful.

“We’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of support,” he said. He hopes that between the food drives and the help of Rolling Harvest and Philabundance, the Fresh Connect program this week will go smooth logistically so that the families that need food this holiday weekend will be well supplied.

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Announcing – FREE FARM MARKET for Lambertville— special food distribution for our neighbors in need!

This Saturday, April 4th from 11 AM to 1 PM at Klines Court, Lambertville, NJ

We would like to invite anyone in our community who finds themselves temporarily struggling to take care of their family’s basic needs. We are here for you!

Please come and collect a box of delicious healthy local fruits, vegetables and dairy.

No registration or ID is required.

We will be practicing safe social distancing. Our community volunteers will be outfitted with masks, gloves and hand sanitizer.

If you come by car, we will gladly load your box of food directly into your car‘s trunk or backseat to minimize contact.

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Bucks, Montco food pantries awarded $25K grants cope with coronavirus from WSFS Bank

By Gianluca D’Elia; reporting for The Intelligencer
Posted Mar 20, 2020 at 3:00 PM

WSFS Bank awarded grants to eight food pantries and nonprofits in the Delaware Valley region, including Rolling Harvest Food Rescue and Family Services of Montgomery County.

[This content was provided for free as a public service to Intelligencer readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing at buckscountycouriertimes.com/subscribenow or theintell.com/subscribenow.]

A man with a cart full of food, including fresh produce picked by Rolling Harvest volunteers, walks past the nonprofit’s truck.

Eight food pantries and nonprofits in the Delaware Valley have received $25,000 grants each from WSFS Bank to aid them during the coronavirus outbreak, including organizations from Bucks and Montgomery counties and Burlington County in New Jersey.

On Friday, Burlington Township Food Pantry, Rolling Harvest Food Rescue and Family Services of Montgomery County were announced as recipients of the grant from the Philadelphia-based bank, which aims to help out local nonprofits during the pandemic.

“I can’t thank the bank anymore than I thanked them yesterday,” Burlington Food Pantry Executive Director Domenic Zulla said Friday morning. “It’s outstanding, and it’s something I never expected. It will go to good use.”

“In this pandemic we have seen an increase in phone calls and food needs,” he added.

Cathy Snyder, founder and director of Rolling Harvest in Lumberville, said she was taken by surprise.

“This was unsolicited, and it’s something that never happens for nonprofits. It’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Snyder said.

How can I help out local food banks?

Donations to Burlington Township’s food pantry can be made at btfoodpantry.org. The pantry, located at 1200 Route 130 North, is open Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. for food distribution.

Rolling Harvest accepts donations on its website.

Family Services of Montgomery County also has a donation page set up online.

In Montgomery County, staff from Family Services said the funding would help them maintain service programs like Meals on Wheels and assist seniors who can’t leave their homes.

“Thanks to the generous support of WSFS Bank, Family Services will continue to provide much-needed programs to Montgomery County residents during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond,” Executive Director Tim O’Connell said in a statement. “For example, our dedicated Meals on Wheels staff and amazing volunteers are continuing to deliver meals to more than 130 homebound elderly individuals in western Montgomery County each weekday during the COVID-19 outbreak.”

WSFS announced a $300,000 pledge Friday from its WSFS Community Foundation to help local charities’ coronavirus relief efforts. In addition to the $25,000 grants given to eight local food organizations, another $100,000 will be distributed over the next few months to support pandemic recovery efforts in various communities, according to WSFS.

“Serving our communities includes partnering with local nonprofits who play a critical role in helping those in need,” said Vernita Dorsey, WSFS senior vice president and director of community strategy. “By providing this grant, we are helping to restore and ensure a better life and brighter future for members of our communities impacted by the pandemic.”

The grant money was much-needed in Burlington, Zulla said. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the food pantry has been in need of repairs to its roof, driveway and air conditioning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the food bank’s need, and Zulla said he fears the state’s tightening restrictions could affect his ability to operate the pantry in the next couple of weeks.

“We’re getting phone calls all over from Maple Shade, Willingboro, Wrightstown, you name it,” Zulla said. “It’s difficult to keep up with it. Right now, we’re anticipating hams and turkeys for Easter, but I’m lucky if I’ll be open then. I don’t know what to expect.”

Rolling Harvest is a gleaning organization that purchases surplus from local farms to distribute to local residents in need. The organization has been struggling lately to get food to senior citizens in public housing, since they’re no longer able to visit because of coronavirus restrictions.

Rolling Harvest also has a volunteer base that is largely made up of older adults in their 70s and 80s, who the organization doesn’t want to put at risk, Snyder said.

“There are real challenges. It’s our time to be creative and rogue as we can,” Snyder said.

She said the WSFS grant will go a long way in ensuring Bucks County’s most vulnerable populations have access to nutritious food amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The money is giving us an opportunity,” Snyder explained. “We have farmers we can reach out to, so to offer extra funding to purchase their surplus means the world to us.”

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Nutrition and Culinary Education Outreach Internship

2019 Interns: Emily Fithian (L) and Talya Adams (R)

The Nutrition Education Intern will assist Rolling Harvest’s Nutrition and Culinary Education Outreach Team with fresh produce distribution, identification, preparation and healthy cooking advice, working within the financial and housing constraints of the food pantry recipients. You will help conduct cooking demos, recipe creation, working directly with food pantry recipient families and pantry volunteers. Other duties will include occasional weekly produce pickups from our partner farmers and food producers, and some gleaning (harvesting). Additional nutrition and cooking outreach will be arranged at Fresh Connect free mobile farm markets, low-income senior housing, senior community centers, summer camps, health clinics and area shelters, schedule TBD. Flexibility is a key component of this internship as our societal needs keep changing. Must be able to lift 35 pounds.

This is a 12-week college summer break internship (allowing for a one week vacation during the summer), based on the candidate’s academic schedule and prior family vacation commitments. 20 hours per week, with all attempts made by Rolling Harvest to accommodate any other part-time job the candidate may be committed to for evenings and late afternoons. $1800 stipend offered either as a non-taxable college grant, or as weekly taxable income.

The ideal candidate will bring enthusiasm, flexibility, compassion and respect for the at-risk, food-insecure population we are helping. Must have own vehicle. Fuel costs reimbursed with a $250 gas card provided for the internship. Spanish speaking a plus.

Please send cover letter and resume by April 10, 2020 to CSnyder@RollingHarvest.org

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Rolling Harvest Food Handling Coronavirus

For our friends and neighbors who have to work hard to keep healthy foods on the table in the best of times, the COVID-19 pandemic will raise many additional challenges. These include more than illness and illness related expenses; they also include challenges like lost wages, unforeseen childcare expenses, lack of transportation or ready access to healthy foods through school meal programs, as well as likely closures of grocery stores and food pantries. At Rolling Harvest, we are committed to “rolling on”, and continuing to inviting healthy and willing volunteers to glean fields and collect food from our generous farmers, to ensure that healthy produce is available to those who need it most. Based on the current available guidance from the USDA and CDC, we believe that we can continue this important work, with the help of our dedicated volunteers, as long as we follow a few basic guidelines. If you have questions, contact contact csnyder@rollingharvest.org.

  1. Don’t volunteer if:
    • you or any member of your household traveled to a level 3 or level 2 travel health notice country within the past 14 days
    • you or anyone in your household experienced potential exposure to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 14 days. If you are unsure, please use the CDC’s risk assessment tool to assess potential exposure.
    • To your knowledge, were you in the same indoor environment as a person who has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) (e.g., in the same classroom or hospital waiting room) in the last 14 days. 
    • You or any member of your household are exhibiting any of the following symptoms (without a known cause, e.g., allergies): runny nose, sore throat, fever, cough, or shortness of breath.
  2. Before you glean, you must wash your hands and arms for at least 20 seconds with soap under warm running water.
  3. If possible, use single-use sanitary gloves to handle food, but you must still wash your hands.
  4. While handling food, you must re-wash your hands, or replace your gloves if you: touch a body part, an animal, cough, sneeze or use a tissue, eat or drink, use tobacco, or engage in any other activity that might contaminate your hands.
  5. If you need to sneeze or cough move away from the food and other volunteers and cover your nose or mouth with a tissue or your elbow.
  6. Be mindful of cleaning any other surface that comes in contact with food, as studies have shown that human coronaviruses can persist on surfaces like plastic, metal or glass for up to nine days.
  7. Keep a social distance from other volunteers. Wave to your fellow gleaners, air hugs work too! Try to maintain a distance of 6 feet from your fellow gleaners wherever possible.
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YWCA Bucks County Celebrates Women Who Make a Difference

28th Annual Salute to Women

Today, YWCA Bucks County salutes Rolling Harvest’s very own, Cathy Snyder, one of the YWCA Bucks County honorees for the 28th Annual Salute to Women Who Make a Difference in Bucks County on May 16, 2019.

The Salute to Women Who Make a Difference is a hallmark event of the YWCA that proudly honors female leaders who live and/or work in Bucks County. Each year, the YWCA Salute to Women recognizes women in Bucks County making exceptional contributions to their businesses, organizations, and their communities. Over the last 27 years, the YWCA has honored hundreds of women while raising much‐needed funds to support our mission of eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.

For more information and to join us as we salute women who make a difference in Bucks County, visit www.ywcabucks.org! This will be a night of celebrating the many accomplishments of outstanding women in our community. The event will take place on May 16, 2019 at Spring Mill Manor, in Ivyland, PA. Buy your event tickets here.

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Tackling Food Insecurity: Best Practices from Bucks, Chesco, Delco and Montco

Posted on Generocity.org; Mar. 28, 2019 By Elina Tonkova / CONTRIBUTOR

From listening to community to trauma-informed approaches, nonprofits in the suburbs diversify strategies in their fight against hunger.

As we’ve explored this month, poverty is unexpectedly present in Philly’s suburban counties — and so is food insecurity, an invisible symptom of poverty.

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Gianficaro: Fresh Connect Bucks County Free Farmers’ Market Helps Snap Hunger

Posted on The Intelligencer; Mar 27, 2019; By Phil Gianficaro, Columnist

The Fresh Connect Bucks County free farmers’ market proves invaluable for food insufficient residents.

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Helping Make Ends Meet in Bucks, the Least Affordable County in the State

Penn Community Foundation looks to address issues of food, safety, housing and skills by investing in nonprofits already working in the community.
Posted on Generocity.org; Mar. 26, 2019; By Todd Hurley / GUEST

When people think of Bucks County, the first thing they think of probably isn’t hunger and homelessness. But the brochure-worthy images of rolling farms and estate homes gloss over a startling truth; among the manicured lawns and stately homes of the suburbs and exurbs nestle pockets of people living in real need.

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Announcing Summer Internship Opportunities!

We are now accepting applications for our 2019 Summer Internships, and want you to be part of our dynamic team! Help us work towards creating a fairer, more equitable local food system that benefits all!

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