EASTON, Pa. – On a cold night in Easton, a bowl of soup is doing more than warming hands. At Plants + Coffee, a simple Facebook post turned into a full-scale community meal.
Jennifer DeLorenzo the owner of Plants + Coffee says, “With, the government shutdown and the EBT being withheld, I felt like we should do something. I wanted to fill everybody’s bellies with warm soup.”
DeLorenzo made the soups from scratch, and then other city residents chipped in.
“We made chicken noodle soup, and we made a gluten-free, vegan tortilla soup. But then, we had a few other people offer,” DeLorenzo explains. “So, we have a pepper pot inside, and we also have a Colombian chicken potato soup inside. That’s really yummy.”
DeLorenzo says the need is greater than ever.
“Everyone’s embarrassed by it, which is heartbreaking. Nobody should be embarrassed about food insecurity. Like, nobody. Everybody deserves to eat,” DeLorenzo says.
Just a few miles away, Aman’s Artisan Indian Cuisine is doing the same; giving away one hundred hot meals.
The owner, Baljeet Bansal says, “We’ve been seeing these posts lately that people are really suffering. And some people are not getting the benefits. So, we decided as a restaurant what can we do to help the community. And the idea came up, hey, we have the ability to make food.”
Their Facebook post spread fast…
“Immediately within an hour, more than 7,000 people had clicked it or viewed it. And over 100-plus shares, which was really astonishing,” Bansal explains.
Each bag holds a full balanced meal.
Bansal says, “In the bag today you have a chickpea curry. We have naan. We have rice with peas. And then a yogurt, Yoplait. And then we have a granola bar and water.”
Two businesses. Two menus. One message: No one in this community should go hungry.