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Friends of the Poor hosts food giveaway in Scranton

Friends of the Poor hosted a food giveaway for more than 2,000 families on Tuesday.

SCRANTON, Pa. — Thousands of families received the food and supplies they'll need to celebrate Easter, all through an effort from Friends of the Poor in Scranton.

The food giveaway is a decades-long tradition, but inflation is putting a strain on the effort like never before.

There was a traffic jam in downtown Scranton Tuesday as thousands of cars lined up waiting for Easter hams and all the food necessary for a holiday dinner. 

Friends of the Poor is used to the increased traffic these days, especially at its food pantries, where patrons are having a harder and harder time making ends meet. 

"This helps me a heck of a lot. I'm backed up on rent and everything else. I don't get that much on food stamps," Joe Smith of Scranton said.

Smith said those food stamps aren't going nearly as far as they used to.

"About double what it was about three months ago. I mean, I went to the store yesterday, and I got two small bags, and it was like $50, and I didn't get enough to last maybe two days," he said.

Inflation is having an impact on Friends of the Poor, too. It took extra planning to pull off this dinner for more than two thousand families.

"In addition to more people needing assistance, our gas prices are higher; our food prices are higher. The ability to get certain foods, we plan months in advance to have a giveaway like this. Just to be able to order the quantities we need, and still, it's hard. Sometimes we don't have enough, and our suppliers are working with three or four different groups to try to get us enough. So, it's a challenge, but we're committed to being here," said Meghan Loftus, President & CEO of Friends of the Poor.

A team of volunteers filled car after car with food using a system perfected during the pandemic. 

Before driving away, families receive Easter baskets for each kid stuffed with surprises. The baskets were donated by several area organizations.

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