Spring-Ford, Collegeville Food Drive Will Help Stock 4 Pantries

SPRING FORD, PA — Spring-Ford Project Outreach in Royersford is one of four Montgomery County food pantries that the St. Eleanor Parish food drive will help stock with drive-thru donations gathered Feb. 6-7.

St. Eleanor Parish of Collegeville will host its 10th annual food drive in a drive-thru set up for the first time.

The food drive is sponsored by the teens of the St. Eleanor Parish Youth Ministry and benefits those in the greater-Collegeville area who are most in need, the parish said.

"Food donations can have significant positive impacts on families who are struggling to make ends meet especially in a time as trying as the one we are living through now," said Cameron Gonteski, a young adult leader who volunteers with the St. Eleanor Parish Youth Ministry program. "Food donations can provide nourishment that enables a student to excel at school among his or her peers or helps a senior citizen offset expenses so she can afford her medication," she said.

Food collected will help stock four local food pantries. St. Vincent DePaul Society Food Pantry at St. Eleanor in Collegeville, Spring-Ford Project Outreach in Royersford, the Daily Bread Food Pantry in Collegeville, and the St. Vincent DePaul Society Food Pantry at St. Mary's in Schwenksville will all receive food items.

"Over 90 young people will be volunteering their time on that weekend to help collect, check, organize, box, and deliver the food donations. We hope that this service opportunity will both teach them the importance of service and to be grateful for all they have been blessed to receive," said Fr. Alessandro Giardini, Parochial Vicar at St. Eleanor Parish.

"By hosting this drive, we hope that the less fortunate of our community will be able to benefit greatly from the generosity of those in the Collegeville area," he said.

The local pantries continue to see local neighbors who need food assistance. "They rely on the generosity of the community to meet those needs. There are heartbreaking circumstances right here in our own community; but practical, compassionate person-to-person caring can make a world of difference," the parish said in a news release.

"It seems, more than ever, more people of our community are in need,” said Matt Kirsch, Youth Minister at St. Eleanor Parish. "By donating non-perishable food items to the drive-through food drive, members of the greater-Collegeville community can make a big difference in the lives of their neighbors in need.”

The food drive had to be reimagined this year due to COVID-19. A drive-through drop-off will allow for a contactless donation process. Donors are asked to drive to the back parking lot of the church, follow the signs, and a teenager will remove the donations from your vehicle. The church is at at 647 Locust Street in Collegeville.

Donations can be dropped off on Feb.6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Feb. 7 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

More information and details about what to donate can be found here.

Project Outreach of Spring-Ford was founded in 1983 and organized by local pastors and laypersons from area churches in order to feed and serve the needy in the Spring-Ford area. As a result, two weekly food distribution sites were developed, one in Royersford and another in Spring City. Project Outreach, with the help of 26 area churches, continues to operate these food pantries and has added many other programs that aid and assist their residents in crisis.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society helps those in need with material, moral, and spiritual support. Currently, more than 500 volunteers are involved throughout the Delaware Valley. The society operates within, but independently of, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, through local parish groups called Conferences. Conference activity is defined by the needs of the particular local community. Members make home visits and may provide transportation for the elderly and shut-ins; bereavement support; nursing home visitation; holiday food or gift drives. There are St. Vincent DePaul food pantries at both St. Eleanor Parish in Collegeville and St. Mary’s Parish in Schwenksville.

The Daily Bread Community Food Pantry is the fourth largest food pantry in Montgomery County, serving approximately 250 families or 1,000 individuals each month. Their mission is to eliminate hunger in the Perkiomen area by providing residents in need with programs that provide food, promote the value of nutrition, increase self-sufficiency, and instill hope. In doing so, the Daily Bread food pantry helps to ensure that food relief has a more meaningful, enduring impact.

The St. Eleanor Parish Youth Ministry program offers spiritual, service, and social opportunities for grades 7-12 in the greater-Collegeville area. All young people are welcome to participate, said Kirsch.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimated that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans would not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.