(HARRISBURG) – Today Senator Joe Scarnati (R-25) and numerous hunger awareness advocates joined together for a public event to mark the 7th season opening of the Capitol Hunger Garden.
Senator Scarnati and Representative Jake Wheatley serve as co-chairs of the Pennsylvania Legislative Hunger Caucus, whose 85 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.
“It is very important that we remember that even with all the great things our state has to offer, too many families and people still face food insecurity,” said Senator Scarnati. “Today marks the start of the seventh 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.”
Since its inception, the garden has annually produced between 700 to 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.”
At the opening, Senator Scarnati was joined by several members of the Legislative Hunger Caucus. Also taking part in the event were individuals from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Feeding America, Hunger-Free Pennsylvania, Downtown Daily Bread, 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