SCRANTON, Pa. — The battle to combat food insecurity is on as volunteers help Child Hunger Outreach Partners "Pack for good." All of the food in the bags and bins will be sent home with students or to in-school food pantries. In total, CHOP helps fill the empty stomachs of more than 40,000 children each week.
"We have some breakfast, some dinner, fruit and veggies, and then a handful of snacks, so we give them definitely enough to get through the weekend," said Dani Ruhf, founder and CEO of Child Hunger Outreach Partners.
Packing the thousands of bags and bins inside CHOP's Scranton branch requires many helping hands, and these volunteers say they're happy to do it for the kids.
"I don't think people realize that some of the kids only get fed at school. So that's why it's so important. We help whatever way we can," said Linda Hansen from Clarks Summit.
"This is the right time in the year to be trying to help help those in need. And my wife and I own a preschool, so we understand that very much," said Mark Mellas from Tunkhannock.
Amanda Friday brought her daughters to help out on their day off from school. Her kids receive bags, and wanted them to see why it's important to help.
"They get really excited about the bags and what's in them and it just means so much to give back in and be part of the whole process," Friday said.
The organization expanded to the Scranton area about three years ago, and now this program is growing again by 25 additional schools over the next two weeks. That adds up to about 10,000 extra students.
"We've had them on a waitlist, and we decided just to pull the trigger and get it done. Because, you know, we don't want these kids to have to wait another day to be fed," said Ruhf.
Students are sent home with these bags every Friday during the school year. CHOP also does a summer meal program.