Garden of Health Inc. Food Bank Serves 475 Cars at Free Food Event

Reaching the food insecure population in Montgomery and Bucks counties

Lansdale, PA – July 17, 2020 - On Thursday July 16th, Garden of Health Inc. Food Bank served 475 cars free food at Lansdale Business Center. The contactless drive-thru free food pickup gifted each car with ten-pounds of produce, $50 worth of Schär gluten-free food, milk, eggs and laundry detergent.

Lines of cars formed long before the 4:00 p.m. start time, at the parking lot of Lansdale Business Center. The Lansdale Police Department was on hand to help manage traffic flow on North Cannon Avenue.

“Today’s turnout was proof that the need still exists for food assistance in our community ”, commented Carol Bauer, Garden of Health Inc. Food Bank Founder. In June, the food bank held the same free food event and 150 cars got in line.

“We were prepared to serve 350 cars and luckily we had more food on hand to be able to serve the extra 125 that pulled in,” says Carol.

Garden of Health Inc. Food Bank sourced the food from various community partners. Rochelle Alcala, a Collegeville resident, started a Facebook fundraiser to raise the money to supply the eggs, which were purchased from Alderfer Eggs in Telford, PA. A last-minute surplus delivery from Montco Anti-Hunger Network of fresh produce boxes and milk allowed the food bank to keep serving the additional cars.

The next free food pickup is scheduled for August 20th from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Run solely on volunteers, the food bank moved into their first physical space at Lansdale Business Center on July 1, allowing them to expand their services and support the continued need for food assistance as a result of COVID-19. In 2019 Garden of Health Inc. distributed over 85,000 pounds of produce and in 2020 have already hit 68,000 pounds.

As an allergen-friendly food bank, Garden of Health Inc. sources food specifically for families and individuals with celiac disease and other dietary restrictions – an underserved population at food pantries. Since the onset of COVID-19, in addition to the over 25 food pantries Garden of Health Inc. delivers to, they are also supplying food to the Emanuel EC Church of Souderton’s meal program, Bean Bag Food Program, Montgomery County Anti-Hunger Network, Montgomery County Senior Adult Activities Center homeless meal program and over 100 private clients in need of special dietary foods.

Garden of Health Inc. Food Bank is dedicated to distributing gluten-free, allergen-friendly foods and produce to over 25 food pantries in Montgomery and Bucks county, Pennsylvania.