(HARRISBURG) – Today Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25) was joined by members of the Legislative Hunger Caucus and numerous hunger awareness advocates, who came together for a public event to mark the ninth 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 ninth season that the Capitol Hunger Garden will work toward 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.
As part of the Hunger Garden Opening this year, the Legislative Hunger Caucus also partnered with the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to hold a food drive.
“Thank you to my legislative colleagues, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Feeding Pennsylvania, Downtown Daily Bread, the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association, the Food Trust, master gardeners from the Penn State Cooperative Extension and volunteers for being a part of today’s event.”
For additional information regarding the Capitol Hunger Garden, please visit: www.senatorscarnati.com/palegislativehungercaucus.
CONTACT: Kate Flessner kflessner@pasen.gov 717-787-7084