(HARRISBURG) – Today Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25) and Representative Jake Wheatley (D-19) were joined by members of the Legislative Hunger Caucus and numerous hunger awareness advocates, who came together for a public event to mark the eighth season opening of the Capitol Hunger Garden.
Senator Scarnati and Representative Wheatley serve as co-chairs of the Pennsylvania Legislative Hunger Caucus, whose 83 members work together and participate in outreach initiatives to raise awareness for hunger. The Capitol Hunger Garden is an approximately 1,000 square-foot area of land adjacent to the State Capitol Building which is overseen by the Hunger Caucus.
“Today marks the start of the eighth season that the Capitol Hunger Garden will work towards the mission of providing healthy food to help those in need and to serve as a valuable tool to raise awareness of hunger issues in Pennsylvania,” Scarnati said. “It is very important that we remember that even with all the great things our state has to offer, too many families and people in rural, urban and suburban areas still face food insecurity.”
Since its inception, the garden has annually produced between 700 and 800 pounds of vegetables that are donated to food banks, pantries and local soup kitchens, such as the Downtown Daily Bread located in Harrisburg.
“The Capitol Hunger Garden not only provides fresh vegetables to food banks, it is an important symbol that shows that we are very aware of the issue of hunger in Pennsylvania,” said Representative Wheatley. “I am proud to work in a bipartisan manner to combat hunger across the commonwealth.”
Also taking part in the opening event were individuals from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Feeding Pennsylvania, Hunger-Free Pennsylvania, Downtown Daily Bread, Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, master gardeners from the Penn State Cooperative Extension and volunteers.
Immediately following the opening event, master gardeners and volunteers planted the garden for the season. For additional information regarding the Capitol Hunger Garden, please visit: www.senatorscarnati.com/palegislativehungercaucus.
CONTACT: Kate Eckhart keckhart@pasen.gov 717-787-7084