The 2020 Toyota Hunger Relief On Demand X1 Video Series Features The Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities in Partnership with Philabundance to Raise Awareness About Food Insecurity Throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area

The Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities, as a Philabundance partner, is featured in the 2020 Toyota “Hunger Relief” On Demand X1 three-part video series to raise awareness about food insecurity throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. The three-part video series is available in a “Hunger Relief” folder in a Toyota On Demand X1 destination and Xfinity subscribers can use their X1 voice remotes to say “TOYOTA” to learn more.

The videos are also available below.

Part I – What is Hunger?

Have you ever wondered what the face of hunger really looks like?

Part II – Bold New Strategies

Take a look at the “Bold New Strategies” of “Ending Hunger. For Good.” – a partnership program between the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities, Philabundance, and Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery and Delaware Counties. “Ending Hunger. For Good.” provides critical services and supports to improve food security and financial stability as well decrease the number of people facing hunger throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. “It’s not just about handing out food, it’s about helping people create stability in their lives through counseling services, life coaching, education about how to manage and save money, and building resources,” Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities Executive Director Barbara Wilhelmy said.

Part III – “Hunger Relief Partners”

Take a look at the local Tri-State Dealers Association 13^th annual Toyota Haul Away Hunger Event which not only provided nearly half-million pounds of food to Philabundance in 2019, but also raised awareness about the severity of food insecurity throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. At least 90,000 people will benefit from the truckloads of food, but organizers said “it’s just a fraction of the people who need help in the region.” “There are about 700,000 people who require food and are food insecure. Of that, about 60% of them have somebody in that household that is working,” former Philabundance Executive Director Glenn Bergman said at the time. The majority of these food insecure households are the working poor.

“All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors”- Fred Rogers

#COVIDCARINGPOTTSTOWN

Working to Distribute and Deliver Food in Safe and Convenient Ways

Recent donations of new reusable bags from Redners, Giant, Pottstown GoFourth, Victory Bank, and First Quality Healthcare Group have helped ensure we can continue to distribute and deliver food in a safe and convenient way. A very special thank you to Eric White, Amy Wolf, Jennifer Delp, Deb Lee, and Jane Perkins for their support.

Keith Kovach at JB Supply, Inc. prevented us from experiencing a delay in food deliveries by allowing us to use their site and truck with needed lift gate. Also, Charlie Brian from Seneca Distributions, LLC generously helped us move a large quantity of food to the Pottstown YMCA.

#COVIDCARINGPOTTSTOWN

Thanks to our friends at J.J. Ratigan Brewing Company and The Blue Elephant, we were able to distribute food and feed 1,500 first responders of Pottstown and surrounding communities! Donations were collected by Tri-County Community Network, US Foods, and Hurter Food Distributors. Watch the news coverage on WFMZ here.

#COVIDCARINGPOTTSTOWN

RocksStar Roller Derby found a unique way to follow social distance guidelines and provide entertainment to raise funds to support our local COVID-19 response  efforts. The group hosted Facebook Stream-A-Thon and asked viewers to make a donation to support the Pottstown Cluster.  All donors were even entered into a raffle for a chance to win a variety of local gift cards!

WORKING TOGETHER

Our community has stepped up big time to offer food resources to those in need. To harness the power of this collective action and to stretch the food resources beyond the initial crisis, we have agreed to coordinate the food insecurity resources in our area. Having a single point of contact will lessen duplication of service and will allow resources to stretch further. A single contact will also spread the services to be available over many days rather than all at once. If you are a business, organization or individual community member that is considering offering a community meal, food collection or other food related efforts, please consider contacting us at communications@pottstowncluster.org

OUR COVID-19 CRISIS RESPONSE

We are committed to providing food security and housing stability to our at-risk neighbors and families experiencing lost wages and layoffs. As unemployment increases at a record-setting pace, we are seeing an uptick in the number of people and families who need our services. The help and support from our dedicated employees, volunteers, board, donors, delegates, and community have allowed us to:

• Continue to keep our public community food pantry open and operating as safely as possible during this challenging time.
• Support and protect our most vulnerable by delivering food to older adults and high-risk individuals so they can remain safe in their homes.
• Respond to increased community need by supporting the local school food distributions with extra food for households in need
• Work with partners to coordinate food security efforts throughout the Pottstown area and provide families with additional food resources. Stabilize vulnerable families and prevent homelessness by offering eviction prevention and social service supports through our Pottstown Housing Resource Center (HRC).

OUR #COVIDCaringPottstown Community Makes Our Work Possible

Many have been reaching out to support our mission as we work to provide food security and housing stability to our at-risk neighbors and families in need during this critical time. The desire to help is an important reminder of the power of community and the fact that working together is our community strength in Pottstown.

As we recognize those who are helping others and working to keep us all healthy and safe, we ask that you also join us in recognizing your neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family members who are doing great things for others by using #COVIDCaringPottstown on your social media posts. We will be doing the same to keep you updated on the many acts of kindness we are receiving! Read more about are some of the acts of kindness we have received over the past few weeks here: OUR #COVIDCaringPottstown Community.

VOLUNTEER

Anyone who is interested in volunteering to support the Pottstown Cluster Outreach Center operations or Community Meals efforts can email volunteer@pottstowncluster.org.

GIVING

A secure online contribution HERE will help us respond to the increasing demand for our services due to the COVID-19 crisis. Your support today and will ensure we can meet the growing needs of our community both today and tomorrow.

THE 10TH ANNUAL SIGNATURE PAGE SHOWCASE OF SUPPORT
Please join us in publicly thanking those who have continued serving the community at the most important of times. This year’s page promises to be something very special. While the page is always a demonstration of your commitment to ending hunger in our community, this year’s page will offer an opportunity to thank our volunteers, employees, and local heroes who have been supporting the Pottstown Cluster’s response to COVID-19. Learn more or donate to sign here: 2020 SIGNATURE PAGE SHOWCASE OF SUPPORT.

Gifts-in-Kind
Our current need is a bulk supply of new reusable bags and new unused plastic bags to pack food in for distribution. To help with this, please email volunteer@pottstowncluster.org or call 610-970-5995. At this time we are not accepting in-kind donations of food or self-care items from the public as we are limiting all that comes into the building to assure we are taking every precaution we can. As of now, we are focusing on our resources and ability to secure large orders of items that meet distribution safety standards. If you have any interest in supporting this effort, you can do so HERE.