By Gia Myers • Posted November 20, 2024

Martha’s Choice Marketplace food pantry is gearing up to help Montgomery County families in need this Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

The Norristown-based food pantry – a community food program of Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia – expects to donate nearly  900 turkey dinners to local families this month for their annual Thanksgiving food distribution. Next month, they’ll provide local children with Christmas gifts.

The food pantry’s regular Wednesday-Friday food distribution is expected to feed 1,600 families this month, in addition to the Thanksgiving food distributions on Monday, Nov. 25 and Tuesday, Nov. 26 for families who signed up on the Martha’s Choice website. Dinner packages will include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, and other traditional fixings.

The goal is to “give a consistent package to everybody,” said Eli Wenger, director of operations at Martha’s Choice.

The reach of this Thanksgiving program has grown in the last few years. In 2020, the Thanksgiving program distributed turkey dinners to 400 families. Last year, that number more than doubled.

“There are a lot of families in significant need,” said Patrick Walsh, director of programs at Martha’s Choice. “People are really struggling.”

Montgomery County is the third most populous county in Pennsylvania, according to World Population Review, and it grew by more than 12,000 people between 2020 and 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The county also features “some of the most expensive real estate,”leading to “an extremely high cost of living,” said Walsh. He added that the food assistance families receive

from Martha’s Choice “is helping them remain housing secure.”

“We used to serve somewhere around 500 families per month,” Walsh said. “Now we’re (serving) 1,600 to 2,300 families per month. It literally quadrupled in some months.”

The vital works of mercy undertaken at Martha’s Choice is only possible through their 150 regular volunteers and numerous donors.

“They are the center of our operation, the life blood of the whole thing. We couldn’t do it without them,” said Walsh. “They really care.”

He estimates 3,000 more volunteers – mostly groups, including students from St. Joseph’s University and Villanova University plus the youth organization Catholic Heart Workcamp – have assisted at Martha’s Community Farm in Audubon, located at the former St. Gabriel’s Hall. Farm volunteers help with weeding, planting, harvesting, and laying down sheet mulch to care for the soil.

Martha’s Choice also receives much support from neighboring parishes. The food pantry stores inventory in the basement of the convent at St. Paul Parish in East Norriton.

Other supporting parishes include St. Titus in East Norriton, Mother of Divine Providence  in King of Prussia, St. Eleanor in Collegeville, and St. Genevieve  in Flourtown and St. Teresa of Avila in West Norriton.

The food pantry – named after Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, who Scripture describes as providing hospitality to Jesus (Luke 10:38-42, John 12:2) – has recently experienced a disruption in their fresh produce supply chain and, for the first time, must purchase fresh produce to distribute this month.

“We’ve never had to purchase fresh produce before,” said Wenger. With the harvest season concluded at Martha’s Community Farm, Martha’s Choice depends on a supplier to provide fresh produce during the winter months.

“We are committed to making sure that our families still have produce, but that just means that we have to find the funds for that,” said Walsh.

Anyone interested in donating to the fresh food fund may click here for the Martha’s Choice donation website.

For the Christmas season, Martha’s Choice has a “Gift Cards for Kids” program in which donors are welcome to contribute $25 gift cards to certain stores.

Those interested in donating either to the Thanksgiving drive or Christmas gift card program, may click here for the Martha’s Choice holiday donations website.

People interested in volunteering at Martha’s Choice may click here to review volunteer opportunities.

“There’s an immense need,” Walsh said about helping Montgomery County  families this holiday season. “It brings the community together in a beautiful way.”