Rotarians mobilize, work together to take action to combat hunger
By Jay Pennie
Exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, nearly 14 million children in the United States went hungry in June, as the economic fallout from the pandemic continued to batter families. That’s an increase of more than 10 million since 2018, and nearly three times the number of children who went hungry during the Great Recession, according to an analysis of Census data released by the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institute.
Rotary cannot solve this problem alone. But we can help.
In less than a 24-hour period this past weekend, Rotarians worked together to help fight hunger both from behind the scenes and on the front lines in two Philadelphia communities.
First, on Friday evening, the Rotary Club of Philadelphia conducted its inaugural on-line fundraising event, Bingo Night, to provide funding for the Community Center at Visitation’s food bank located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Kensington lies within the congressional district as having one of the highest poverty rates in the country. As of the last census, 26% of the residents in that district live below the poverty level and ranked 431 of 435.
But, according to the Census Reporter, the primary zip code that the Center serves, 41% of the residents live below the poverty level. Kensington is also the 2nd hungriest District in the U.S and 70% of the children are obese which leads to development and social problems among the youth Crime in Kensington is triple the national average and it is considered the “Heroin Capital” of America. The neighborhood is riddled with crime, drugs and prostitution.
We are also learning that the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the population unevenly. Many of the community’s low-income resident’s who work in the service industry have been laid off due to the shutdown of hotels, restaurants, and other non-essential businesses. Or they are working in the retail or senior care industry where they must go to work and risk their lives without adequate protection from the virus.
Twelve hours later, members of the Rotary Club of Philadelphia joined the Rotary Club of Southwest Philadelphia-Eastwick to pack and distribute food for their drive serving over 100 area families in need. Similar to Kensington, their community has a 30% poverty, 17% unemployment, and 12% food insecurity rate even before the pandemic.
However, the story is more remarkable because of how Rotarians worked together through friendship and service to help these two communities. Let me summarize by giving thanks to the people who mobilized and made it all happen:
First, Rotary International District 7450 Governor, Peter Mardinly with District Foundation Chair, Dawn deFuria quickly put together a COVID-19 Relief Grant program that provided $25,000 to the 50 area clubs focused on food banks. Both clubs applied for and received $500 each for their respective projects.
Rotary Club of Philadelphia Fundraising Chair, Kelly Feighan and committee members Oscar Armas-Luy and Sandy Goldberg planned and developed a successful Bingo Night that was fun, engaging, and informative. Scott Grande, Past Rotary Club of Philadelphia President served as Emcee for the night keeping 30 players engaged with his jovial manner. In addition to the organizers and guests, participating Rotarian donors included: Rosana Anchando, Joe and Joan Batory, Dr Vicki Bralow, Dr Jeff Cabot, Ryan Igbanol, Dan King, Lisa Leonard, Karon Massado, Alex Snyman, and Kurt Stroemel. Sponsors included Queen Village Dentistry, Dr. Jeff Cabot, and Haefele Flanagan, David Gill, With District funding, ticket sales and sponsorship, the event raised more than $1,500 for the Center.
Rotary Club of Philadelphia’s Bingo Night online fundraiser for the Community Center at Visitation’s food bank located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.
At a virtual meeting in June, Past District Governor, Joan Batory introduced the Rotary Club of Philadelphia members to the leadership of the Rotary Club of Southwest Philadelphia-Eastwick’s, President Jonathan Fullenwellen, Immediate Past President, Cheryl Burkett, and Service Projects Chair, Paulette Cunningham. As a result of the meeting, the Southwest club applied for a grant from the Rotary Foundation of Philadelphia. Because of the tight deadline, the Foundation’s President, Kurt Stroemel with the ten foundation board members acted quickly to review the grant application, provide the award, and issue the check for $1,000 just in time for the Southwest club to purchase food for the upcoming distribution day.
On Saturday morning, July 25, Rotary Club of Philadelphia members Krysta Lee Halye, husband, David Houtz, member Rotary Club of Chichester, Meghan Miller, Olusola Fadaka, and prospective members, joined Rotary Club of Southwest Philadelphia-Eastwick leadership and volunteers to set up, pack, and distribute food.
Rotary Club of Philadelphia members teamed up with Rotary Club of Southwest Philadelphia-Eastwick leadership and volunteers to set up, pack, and distribute food.
Once more, the kindness and generosity of Rotarians to mobilize and work together for a common cause never ceases to amaze me. I’m proud to be a Rotarian. If you are a Rotarian, I hope you are proud too! If you are not yet a member, contact us to join.
Find out how you can become a member of the Rotary Club of Philadelphia or make a donation to the Rotary Foundation of Philadelphia.