The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank recently announced that it is receiving a $127,000 grant from Sheetz for the Kidz, a charitable organization driven by the employees of Sheetz Inc., to help provide hunger relief to children in central Pennsylvania through the food bank's summer feeding and youth hunger programs.

The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank continues to address the increased need due to the pandemic and current inflationary challenges. Many families are working hard to make ends meet but are still not making enough to cover all expenses, leaving many children without the meals they need to thrive. In central Pennsylvania, nearly one in seven children are facing hunger.

The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank helps to provide more than 2.5 million meals annually to children in need through its network of local agency partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens and meal programs. During the summer of 2022, the food bank served nearly 71,000 meals across 62 summer feeding sites in 12 counties with assistance from the Sheetz grant.

This summer, Brittany Funcheon, executive director of Sheetz for the Kidz, visited the Boys and Girls Club of Harrisburg, which was one of the summer feeding sites. Also in attendance was Mark Hawthorne, executive director, Boys and Girls Club of Harrisburg, and Joe Arthur, executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

Funding will also be used for the food bank's school pantry and backpack programs. The food bank is a member of Feeding America and is one of 27 food banks to receive this grant from Sheetz for the Kidz.

To learn more about the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, visit http://www.centralpafoodbank.org.