BY JIM MARSH

Special to The Press

For Katrina Sundstrom, of Upper Macungie Township, hunger among families residing in the Parkland School District is a vital issue that does not receive enough attention.

“Hunger hides in plain view,” Sundstrom said, “and it can be a very lonely situation to be in.”

Sundstrom is a co-founder and executive director of the Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry, located along Kernsville Road, Orefield. The pantry currently is helping between 150 and 170 families, up from about 100 families before the COVID-19 virus hit in March.

The metric that measures an area’s food insecurity is the number of school students who require financial assistance with lunchtime food programs. The founders were surprised to learn that figure was 25 percent during the Parkland School District 2018-19 school year.

The pantry opened its doors for the first time to 12 families in June 2019. Twice a month, families were invited to shop the pantry shelves and refrigerators for nonperishable goods, milk, cheese and fresh fruit and vegetables.

By December 2019, the pantry had fed more than 100 households.

In March, everything changed when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. The pantry switched from pantry choice shopping to contactless drive-thru distribution twice-monthly at Kernsville Elementary School, 5051 Kernsville Road, Orefield.

Families taking advantage of the new distribution model received the same foodstuffs in a COVID-safe environment. Food items came from Second Harvest Food Bank, Crooked Row Farms, Orchard Hills Church and Life Church and many additional community partners.

Pantry food drives replenish items disbursed, Sundstrom said.

Much of Sundstrom’s pantry responsibility involves going into the community to educate area residents of the need and to solicit donations of money and food, which allow the pantry to continue its efforts.

Sundstrom says some of her community efforts are met with skepticism.

She recalls an encounter at a food drive with one resident who said, “Parkland. Really? I’ve lived here for many years and I don’t see it.”

Sundstrom says when she backs up her community solicitations with statistics, many doubters in the community end up providing donations or become pantry volunteers.

“Because hunger hides in plain view,” Sundstrom said, “it’s easy to miss it.”

Often, it’s not something that someone in need is comfortable sharing widely, Sundstrom said.

“The pandemic in general has shifted things for so many people,” Sundstrom said. “Many are finding themselves in situations they never thought they would be in. For those people, some relief comes from community helping community.”

Sundstrom says the Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry has a diverse spectrum of people who volunteer to help, including students from school clubs, their parents, seniors and other concerned community residents.

Social media plays a big role in generating enthusiasm for food and donation drives, Sundstrom said, “and we have been really fortunate with word of mouth among neighbors and other community partners.”

Sundstrom has a positive attitude as the pantry efforts move toward 2021. As the pandemic eases, she said, she hopes to move back into the pantry shopping mode so patrons can more closely match their family’s needs with items available, rather than adapting to what is available in the drive-thru distribution.

Sundstrom said the pantry’s Snack Pack program is embraced with wide enthusiasm. Pantry volunteers pack “weekend” food packets for distribution to about 200 youngsters to supplement the weekday school lunch programs.

A current institutional need now for the pantry is a large refrigerated truck to help widen the pantry’s capacity for acquiring and storing fresh, perishable foodstuffs and moving to more frequent and immediate distribution modes.

Sundstrom said early efforts for that project are heartening.

“Using social media and word of mouth, we were able to raise about $1,000 for a truck on ‘Giving Tuesday,’” she said.

And, seeing no end to the need to keep hunger at bay, “We see a time when we’re going to have to look for a larger facility,” Sundstrom said.

For more information about the pantry’s mission and operations, or to donate, go to parklandcaresfp.org.

Editor’s Note: If you know someone who should be featured as a Lehigh Valley Health Network Community Partner, email dgalbraith@tnonline.com.