Honoring, recognizing, and congratulating Philabundance, the Delaware Valley's largest hunger relief organization, on the occasion of its 30th Anniversary.

WHEREAS, Philabundance was founded and incorporated in March 1984 by Pamela Rainey Lawler as a food rescue organization with the simple belief that no man, woman, or child should go hungry, and was operated out of Pamela Rainey Lawler's blue Subaru station wagon for the first year of its existence; and

WHEREAS, Philabundance's initial goal was to work with grocers, restaurateurs, bakers, and other food merchants to salvage healthy, nutritious food that was thrown away, but quickly took on the broader mission of driving hunger from communities throughout the Delaware Valley. Philabundance obtained IRS 501(c) (3) status on March 21, 1985; and

WHEREAS, Philabundance established its first office space in Roxborough in 1985, and in just 13 years became the Delaware Valley's largest hunger relief organization, then relocated its offices to South Philadelphia in 1998 to accommodate the increased demand for food assistance; and

WHEREAS, Philabundance joined the Feeding America network in 2001, and integrated with the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank in 2005; and

WHEREAS, Today, Philabundance provides food assistance to 75,000 people each week, 23% of whom are children and 16% of whom are senior citizens; and

WHEREAS, Philabundance distributed 30 million pounds of food in 2013 alone; and

WHEREAS, Philabundance provides food to people in need through both its network of more than 400 member agencies, including food cupboards, churches, shelters, social service agencies, and emergency kitchens, and through community food programs that distribute healthful food directly from Philabundance to individuals and families in need of food assistance; and

WHEREAS, with office locations at both 3616 S Galloway Street in South Philadelphia and 302 W Berks Street in North Philadelphia, Philabundance provides hunger relief services throughout the City as well as to 8 surrounding counties, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania, and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; and

WHEREAS, Philabundance takes an approach to food assistance that aims to attack the root causes of hunger, launching projects such as the Philabundance Community Kitchen, a culinary arts job training program for low-to-no income adults through which more than 80% of graduates gain employment in the food service industry, and which supplies hundreds of thousands of meals to shelters and organizations supporting vulnerable adults; and

WHEREAS, Philabundance has long been recognized as a pioneer in the field of hunger relief, and, in 2013, opened Fare & Square, the nation's first nonprofit grocery store, in the City of Chester in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, which had been a USDA-designated food desert for more than a decade prior to the store's opening; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor, recognize and congratulate Philabundance on the 30th anniversary for its exemplary service to Philadelphians and citizens throughout the Delaware Valley.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Philabundance as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

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