With food prices rising and food insecurity growing, two local health organizations will host a pop-up food pantry in Scranton on Friday. The event will provide resources for people who need assistance with groceries and more.
The free Spring Into a Day of Giving pop-up food pantry will be from noon to 3 p.m. at Weston Field, 928 Providence Road, in Scranton. The event is organized by the Wright Centers for both Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, along with the American College of Physicians’ Pennsylvania’s (PA-ACP) Eastern Chapter.
In a first-come, first-serve style, bags of non-perishable food alongside pasta, chicken, tuna and vegetables will be available to those who go to the event, according to the Wright Center. These foods include pastas, tuna, chicken and canned soups. The bags will be provided at no cost.
People who want to attend the event can expect a little more than just a food pantry, according to Kara Seitzinger, the director of public affairs for the Wright Center,
Beyond food, clothing, kid-friendly crafts, Narcan kits and dental kits with toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss will also be provided, Seitzinger said.
“So it’s kind of like a little fair. A little health fair almost, where you can get a little bit of everything.” she said.
Clothing bags that the Wright Center has dubbed “Bags of Warmth,” which include a hat, gloves and a scarf, will also be distributed.
“In our Wilkes-Barre clinic recently we did them twice and they were kind of gone within 30 minutes. We had gotten rid of about 50 bags,” she said.
A primary goal of the pop-up food pantry is to help those who may not have access to the ability to go out and buy the food that they need.
Food insecurity and a lack of access to food has become an issue for some families. More than 13% of households in the U.S. were food insecure in 2023, according to the USDA. More than 5% of these households reported having very low food security.
The rising cost of groceries and common products, including eggs, can also contribute to food insecurity. U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics report that the average nationwide price of a dozen eggs in February was $5.89. This can also lead to issues for families that have children, requiring more food to feed their whole family.
Channel Kearse, the city of Scranton outreach coordinator, mentioned how schools in Scranton have various programs that help students get the food that they need. Through the nonprofit organization CHOP Out Hunger, Scranton schools have food pantries for students and have bags of food available for students to take home on weekends.
Seitzinger says the people who use food pantries have children they need to feed.
“I think it might be the one driver for folks to really go to a food bank, is for their children,” she said. “There are adults that will do without, we can often see that historically, but you know for their children they will certainly go to a food pantry.”
Booths at the pop-up food pantry will be operated by physicians from the Wright Center and other local organizations.
Seitzinger emphasized the importance of community through physicians working and those who they serve at events like the pop-up food pantry.
“We’re teaching our future physicians the importance of giving back, the importance of meeting your patients one-on-one or your community member,” she said. “You know the Wright Center itself is owned by the community. We are a federally funded health care center and so it’s really important that we are teaching those next generations of physicians what needs to be focused on."