What is FEED The Lehigh Valley?

FEED The Lehigh Valley is a program by PSALM 34:6 MINISTRIES that is currently under development. Here at PSALM 34:6 MINISTRIES, we have been helping local families in need for quite a while now but we realize that we haven't even scratched the surface. As the need keeps growing in the Lehigh Valley, we realized that we needed to find a way to reach the masses. That is where FEED The Lehigh Valley comes in!

Before I continue explaining further about FEED The Lehigh Valley, I'd like to introduce you to Blessings of Hope. As many of you may already know, PSALM 34:6 MINISTRIES partners with grocery stores to receive food donations to deliver to families in our local community. Blessings of Hope partners with many stores to receive food donations and takes them all back to their MASSIVE warehouse in Ephrata, PA.  The big difference between Blessings of Hope and PSALM 34:6 MINISTRIES is that they do not deliver to individual households and families like we do. They do, however, partner with nonprofit organizations like ours in order to distribute food to the community.

Some of Blessings of Hope's services include delivering truckloads of food to specified destinations (drop centers) where the food would then be distributed by the nonprofit receiving the delivery. The costs are minimal. It would cost us approximately $270 to have a box truck filled with 504 boxes of food (each box is packed for a family of 4) and it would cost us approximately $350 for an 18 wheeler (full size truck) filled with boxes for families. As you can probably tell by now, the cost isn't the problem here. Our biggest challenge is facilitating all of this!

My long term goal is to create three networks throughout the entire Lehigh Valley; Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton would each have their own networks. Each network would be comprised of as many churches, nonprofit organizations, and businesses that want to take part in this program. With the help of these organizations, we can facilitate drop centers and volunteers to help carry out the distribution of food.

Great question! This has been something I've been wrestling with since the creation of this program. While I am certainly open to any and all suggestions, I think the best approach would be to have designated members from each partner (churches, organizations, businesses) pick up the food they need depending on the need in their region and then distribute it accordingly. This method keeps the drop centers from becoming overwhelmed with a flood of people and vehicles, jamming up the entire area.

Another great question! The goal is to split the cost of each truck delivery between each of the partners in a given network. So for example, if the Easton network is comprised of 10 churches, it would cost each church approximately $35 for a full size truck of food to be delivered. The more partners in the network, the cheaper it is for eveyrone! The greatest cost here is time and energy with the help of many volunteers!

I don't doubt you have many more questions and I'd love to hear from you and go over any questions or concerns you might have. You can find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jrindos or give me a call at 484-548-8930

Sincerely,
Jonathan Rindos
Founder & CEO
PSALM 34:6 MINISTRIES