4,000 families served at drive-thru food pantries after food assistance drops

Molly McVety, Delaware News Journal
·1 min read
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The Delaware Food Bank held its final drive-thru distribution event on Friday at the Delaware Technical Community College Stanton campus, capping a week of statewide efforts where over 4,000 families received assistance in the face of historic inflation and the expiration of extra SNAP benefits.

Over 100 food bank volunteers served a total of 1,363 people at the Stanton pantry. The first-come-first-serve event was scheduled to start at 10 a.m., but cars started arriving hours before. By 9 a.m., the parking lot at Delaware Tech's Stanton campus was completely full, with traffic piling up onto the nearby I-95 offramp.

Background: As SNAP benefits shrink, where to find help in Delaware. Drive-thru food pantries planned.

More than 100 volunteers from all over Sussex County helped distribute food at a Food Bank of Delaware event on Monday, March 27, 2023.
More than 100 volunteers from all over Sussex County helped distribute food at a Food Bank of Delaware event on Monday, March 27, 2023.

Longtime Food Bank employee Al Huggins started his Friday before 4 a.m. before driving one of the four semi-trucks stocked with donations to be distributed to the public, totaling around 100,000 pounds of food.

The distributed food included chicken donations from Perdue, produce boxes and baby formula.

On March 27, the Food Bank set up its distribution center in Georgetown's Crossroad Community Church, followed by a visit to the Dover Motor Speedway on Wednesday. According to Kim Turner, communications director for the Delaware Food Bank, over 1,200 were served at the March 27 event and an additional 1,325 were served in Dover on Wednesday.

Volunteer Caroline Franchino, at center, distributes bags of oranges at the Delaware Food Bank's drive-thru event at Delaware Community Technical College in Stanton on Friday, March 31, 2023. There was a high turnout at the event due to the expiration of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency SNAP benefits.
Volunteer Caroline Franchino, at center, distributes bags of oranges at the Delaware Food Bank's drive-thru event at Delaware Community Technical College in Stanton on Friday, March 31, 2023. There was a high turnout at the event due to the expiration of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency SNAP benefits.

Delaware Tech nursing students Tatiana Sosa and Breanna Kulesza were among the volunteers in Stanton.

"It's nice to know you're making a difference," Sosa said.

For more information on how to get help or how to volunteer with the Delaware Food Bank, visit fbd.org.

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Contact Molly McVety at mmcvety@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Food Bank distributed to thousands in the face of inflation