Penn Community Bank is partnering with St. Luke’s University Health Network to sponsor a free summer meals program for underprivileged children, 18 and younger, living in the Quakertown area.
More than half of the children enrolled at Quakertown Elementary School, 157 of 287 students in 2017 - 2018 qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, according to a report from the Quakertown Community School District. During the summer, those children are at higher risk to miss a meal because they no longer have access to the food available at school. St. Luke’s Summer Meals Program is designed to help meet that need.
“No child should face the summer with dread because they are worried about going hungry,” said Penn Community Bank President and CEO Jeane M. Vidoni. “Our entire team at Penn Community Bank was proud to work with St. Luke’s to launch this program, so food insecure kids in our community have access to healthy meals this summer.”
Penn Community Bank donated $15,162 to launch the summer meals program, which is new to the local Quakertown community and will be based out of St. Luke’s Quakertown campus. An initial pledge of $10,000 from the Penn Community Foundation was supplemented with $2,581 in donations from individual Penn Community Bank team members at their annual team member dinner, which was then matched by the bank’s foundation.
“The health and welfare of our community is always top of mind at St. Luke’s,” said Dennis Pfleiger, president of St. Luke’s Quakertown Campus. “Through the generosity of Penn Community Bank, we are able to enhance the summer meals program and have an even greater impact on our neighbors in the Quakertown community.”
Through Aug. 30, lunch will be served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the ground floor vending area of St. Luke’s Quakertown Campus, 1021 Park Ave., Quakertown, (meals not available Thursday, July 4). Every Friday, children will be provided with a backpack of food to help sustain them through the weekend. To learn more about the program, contact Kathy Ramson, network director, 484-526-2301 or kathy.ramson@sluhn.org.
