Greetings,

What a month it’s been! We've got a lot of great stuff going on, including a food drive in honor of Pope Francis's visit, highlighted in our Events section.

Also, we have results from our Norristown Pantry Survey, which will help us better serve our communities!

The Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board (VFTCB) is organizing a countywide food drive in honor of Pope Francis’s visit.  There will be an afternoon of events at Valley Forge Park, outlined on the VFTCB Papal Visit website, Home Away From Rome.

This is a great opportunity to help the Montco Anti-Hunger Network (MAHN) advance its long-term goal of developing a food distribution network. We've developed a plan to distribute food drive donations throughout the county:
 

• The Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board has communicated information to 100 churches in Montgomery County about the food drive. We’ve developed a brochure that tells religious organizations can get involved in the effort.
• The actual food drive will take place at churches, synagogues and mosques the weekend before the Papal visit on Saturday and Sunday the 19^th and 20^th to coincide with religious services.
• These sites will be responsible for delivering the food to centrally located food pantries in multiple regions of the county.  This delivery will be done on Monday, Sept. 21.  These pantries will be advertised on the Home Away From Rome website, and we’ve enlisted one pantry from each of our six regional coalitions!
• Later in the week, other pantries in the local coalitions will pick up a share of the donations.

We’re hopeful that the food drive will be a success and becomes an annual event to commemorate Pope Francis’s visit and continue his anti-poverty focus. This is a large undertaking with a three-week window.  Let’s show what we can do!

Abington Health Center in Willow Grove is offering free breast screenings for any woman 40 or older who has not had a mammogram or breast examination in the past 12 months due to a lack of health insurance. Call (215) 481-2586 to register. Check out the informational flyer, which is also available in Korean and Spanish. 
 

The MAHN Leadership Team is moving forward with plans to establish four hubs in Montgomery County beginning in the fall. The hubs will bring food from Philabundance to coalition hubs, where coalition members can pick up predetermined amounts of produce. We are currently working with Manna on Main Street to learn from their expertise in distributing food to area pantries, and although the details still need to get ironed out, we’re hopeful that the new hubs will move more healthy, perishable food into MontCo while strengthening the regional relationships necessary to serve the community.