Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative Food Pantry is planning its next monthly food distributions 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5:30-7 p.m. July 8 in the parking lot of St. John the Baptist Church, 2024 S. Ruch St., Whitehall.

Expect long lines this week, as we need to re-register everyone for Second Harvest Food Bank and USDA’s new fiscal year, which started July 1. Please see our new sign-in area in front of the school where our pantry is located.

For the five days in June that we offered our children’s summer feeding program, we provided a bag of food to 170 children. Our highest number of children served on one day was 115 served June 23. These are the total number of children served by location for June: Cementon, 9; Coplay, 26; Egypt, 9; Fullerton, 29; Maryland Circle, 42; and Mickley Run, 55.

We can provide food to at least 500 children twice a week. Please spread the word to help us serve more Whitehall Township and Coplay Borough low-income household children, from infants to age 18, 10-11 a.m. every Monday and Wednesday.

Every day is a different bag of food. After the fourth day, the food bag items will repeat again.

Our July 5 bag contained a juice box, a can of chicken chili or beef stew, two small milk boxes, pancake mix, a Nutri-Grain bar, a six-pack of raisins and a small individual bag of cookies.

Our July 7 bag included three small milk boxes, a peanut butter jar, a can of vegetable soup, a small box of mac and cheese, a can of applesauce, snack chips and small sandwich style crackers.

Bag food items may vary, and they are available while supplies last at our six distribution sites.

We provided zucchini and string beans fresh from our garden at the Mickley-Prydun Farm this week, while supply lasted. The children’s faces lit up when they saw the fresh, green vegetables. A variety of produce will be given out this summer as it becomes available.

Since we will have an abundance of zucchini from our garden this summer, we wanted to provide some ways to prepare this summer squash. Julie Davitt is a WCHI board director and a nutrition education adviser at Penn State. She provided this video from USDA - youtube.com/watch?v=eSKtPtW0X2o - which shows adults and kids how to make corn and zucchini pancakes.

Davitt also provided these zucchini preparations from Katy Moscoso, program specialist with Iowa State University extension and outreach.

“I love to saute diced or chopped zucchini in a little bit of olive oil with spices and other summer squash or tomatoes,” Moscoso says. “It is a quick, tasty side dish that everyone enjoys! I also like using sauteed zucchini in recipes like zucchini hummus wraps and vegetable quesadillas.

“I like to add shredded zucchini to meatloaf, muffins and cakes. One of my favorite muffin recipes is the chocolate chip and zucchini muffins from Spend Smart. Eat Smart. My family also likes to have sliced zucchini baked in the oven with Parmesan cheese for a crunchy snack.

“Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and cook it on the grill with a drizzle of olive oil and a blend of spices. I use leftover grilled zucchini in pasta and on grilled cheese sandwiches.

“If I want to have a lighter pasta, I make zucchini noodles with a cheap spiralizer I purchased several years ago at a home goods store. The noodles can be steamed and used as an alternative to heavy pasta dishes. When our daughter was a baby, I would steam zucchini to make baby food since it was inexpensive.

“One of my favorite things about using zucchini in a recipe or as a side dish is that zucchini does not take long to prepare or cook. I love how zucchini takes on the flavor of what you cook it with, making it easy to prepare in a variety of ways. Grab a zucchini next time you pick out produce - you won’t be disappointed!”

If you have any questions, please call or text me. Have a great week!