SCRANTON, Pa. — Hundreds of grocery bags were filled to the brim and piled high, ready to head out for delivery before the school bell rang for the weekend.
"I couldn't imagine being a child, not understanding, 'Why I am not getting a meal? 'Why am I hungry? 'Why does my stomach hurt?' It's heartbreaking, and we want to reduce that and eliminate that," said Ty Holmes, the Child Hunger Outreach Partners gift officer.
It was the typical Friday crunch at the Scranton branch of Child Hunger Outreach Partners on Brook Street. The group delivers hundreds of bags of food to 120 districts in 15 counties across northeastern Pennsylvania.
"It's available to everyone. You have 600 students in your school, we bring you 600 bags. Then it takes away the stigma around, 'Oh, look who has it,'" Holmes said.
But this Friday's packing went a little quicker than usual, as local members of the United States Air Force gave a helping hand. They filled the bags with everything from ramen noodles to quick grab-and-go snacks, accessible for any kid.
"All these packages, they disappear quick, just showing that demand is out there, is kind of shocking. But at least we know it's going to someone who needs it," said Taylor Holt, a U.S. Air Force recruiter.
The volunteers are serving both their country overseas and here at home.
"One of the things that we like to do is help out our community. Even if we didn't grow up here from day one, it's our community," Holt said.
"I think one of the misconceptions people have, is that they don't realize the United States military as a whole does as many humanitarian missions as we do combat missions," Holmes said.
On this day, they took on the mission of battling hunger.
"Knowing that kids are going home tonight, and they'll be able to pull something out to eat, and they don't need to worry about what they're going to do Saturday and Sunday for food. That means the world to us. That's the most important thing," Holmes added.