State officials visit Weinberg Food Bank during Hunger Action Month

PITTSTON TWP. — Two secretaries in the Wolf administration visited the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank’s temporary packing site on Tuesday, as part of Hunger Action Month.

Teresa Miller, Secretary of Human Services, along with Russell Redding, Secretary of Agriculture, paid a visit to the now-empty building that once housed the Pittston-area Walmart, where they helped a group of volunteers prepare food stuff into packages for distribution.

According to Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank CEO Gene Brady, the space has been donated to the food bank by Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services on a temporary basis, so as to keep volunteers packing food away from those picking up food, in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“You would see distribution events where people were in line, so it’s trying to be done in a way that prevents the spread,” Brady said.

And it makes sense why it was necessary; the need for food from the food bank has nearly doubled in recent months as a result of the pandemic, with Brady saying the facility has gone from distributing roughly one million pounds of food monthly to two million.

Secretary Russell said that the pandemic has highlighted the importance of helping those with food insecurity problems, and he hopes it inspires those who are able to help to do so.

“I hope there’s greater awareness and sensitivity to our neighbors from all of us to those who are food insecure in the good times and now find themselves in a very tight spot, and those who, quite frankly, finding for the first time assistance in a little brown box,” Russell said. “I look at food differently now.”

Russell said that many food banks around the state have lost volunteers, a group which is often older and more at-risk for communicable diseases than other groups, and there is a need for younger volunteers to take their place.

If you are interested in volunteering with the food bank, you can do so by going to www.ceopeoplehelpingpeople.org/volunteer, which has more information about how to schedule a volunteer shift.