The Hazleton Integration Project (HIP) developed the Eradicating Food Insecurity Initiative with help from community organizations, high school students and federal funding.
Following the project’s inception about a year ago, HIP hosted an open house Wednesday to share the work they are doing.
Debbie Mills, head of the initiative, said they provided nearly 270,000 meals in the last year.
“That’s approximately nine meals for every person that lives in Hazleton,” she added. “That number is astounding.”
The organization received a $1.15 million Community Project Funding Grant from the federal government to get started.
Community Partnerships
HIP partnered with several organizations to bring resources and manpower into the space on East Fourth Street in Hazleton, creating five separate programs within the Eradicating Food Insecurity Initiative.
HIP hosted its first community dinner in May 2023. The sit-down community dinners feed roughly 500 people on the third Friday of every month, thanks to a partnership with Soul Kitchen.
Geisinger set up a satellite Fresh Food Farmacy at the center in April 2024. 30 patients with diabetes have been able to get free meals every two weeks.
Alicia Trelease is the program manager.
“We’re not just doing a one meal or one weekend distribution. We’re providing for the entire household, we’re doing 20 meals per distribution,” she said. “The way it works is they come to a Fresh Food Farmacy here in Hazleton and then they work with a certified health coach telephonically through Geisinger — we also can connect them to a registered dietitian.”
Lehigh Valley Health Network will soon move in with a maternal health program to address nutritional needs for pregnant women and new moms.
The No Hungry Children program provides healthy microwaveable meals to hundreds of children six days a week with help from Dinners for Kids based in Wilkes-Barre. Mills said the program served more than 29,000 meals in its first year.
The Take Home Chef program through Fork Over Love works with Hazleton restaurants to provide free take-out meals.
The weekly food distributions, in partnership with the CEO Weinberg Food Bank, serve roughly 350 families per week.
HIP Corps United
A contingent of 32 students from Hazleton area high schools identified the need for affordable food.
“We were told to meet a random person on the street and interview them,” said Elainel Morel, a tenth grade student in the cohort. “I didn’t understand what he was going through until he told me about it… It was touching and moving.”
The student volunteers were recruited to lead the HIP Eradicating Food Insecurity Initiative, with guidance and technical support from HIP. Their goal is not only to identify social justice issues, but to implement solutions as well.
“This group of students is probably the most important thing we do,” said Bob Curry, HIP’s founding president. “[They are] working on ways to make sure that this continues in the future so that there are no families who are food insecure.”
The students made documentaries to raise awareness of the issue, designed marketing materials and drafted plans for expanding the pavilion at the food distribution center.
"We had to give our ideas of what we would do to it," tenth grader Lia Bejaran said of the pavilion. "We also gave ideas for the logo for our group."
Curry said the group is working to secure additional funding to expand the food distribution center and pavilion. The goal is to double the amount of meals provided at the weekly distributions within the next 18 months.
