SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center (FOTP/CMC) held an emergency pop-up food pantry Monday at Hilltop Manor in Scranton after a weekend of power outages caused by severe thunderstorms.
The distribution offered meat, milk, fresh produce and eggs to help replace food that spoiled in refrigerators and freezers during the outages.
Ingrid Husisian, food program supervisor for Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center, said the organization already operates a regularly scheduled satellite pantry at Hilltop Manor, but wanted to move quickly once it learned how many households were affected.
“There are 250 households here, and more than half of them lost power over the weekend. That’s a lot of people who lost the food in their fridges and freezers, and a lot of families that are in need. Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center was so grateful that we could answer the need and provide food for these families,” said Husisian.
Husisian said Anna Campbell, a commissioner of the Scranton Housing Authority and longtime FOTP/CMC volunteer, helped alert the organization to the need for supplemental food in the Hilltop Manor community.
The regular Hilltop Manor pantry is held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
FOTP/CMC operates 14 food pantries, including two full-time pantries and 12 part-time satellite pantries, and serves more than 25,000 individuals across Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.
More information on food pantry schedules and enrollment is available on the organization’s website.