Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative, the faith-based community and others are proud to provide free meals to low-income Whitehall Township and Coplay Borough residents twice a month. All are welcome to attend both meals 4-6 p.m. the first Sunday and third Tuesday each month.

WCHI will post a meal reminder and details about the meal being served on Facebook and Instagram. It will also note if it is an inside sit-down meal, takeout or a version of both.

For questions about hosting and attending our 2025 meal-planning meeting in September or guests wanting more information, call Karen Haberern, program chair, at 610-730-3184.

I want to give a huge thank you to all the faith-based organizations and others that provide these meals. They obtain the food, prepare the meals, set up the eating areas, serve the meals and clean up.

Many hands help to make each meal a huge success. We cannot do this much-needed outreach program without you, and we truly are grateful for all your support.

Each meal site keeps attendance records for the total people served each month. I need to provide data on these meals to Second Harvest Food Bank since I have a soup kitchen account. WCHI sometimes orders food for our meal partners.

This data reported below is from September 2023 through June 2024.

The September data was the last time we had more children and adults attending our meals than seniors. The September 2023 attendance was 54 children, 81 adults and 32 seniors for a total of 167 people served from 85 households.

Since November, the seniors have been the largest group by age attending our meals.

In January 2024, we canceled both meals due to snow, so we have no data for all the categories. The largest attendance from February through June 2024 was in April when we served three children, 25 adults and 149 seniors for a total of 177 people served from 148 households.

In June, we served one child, 76 adults and 103 seniors for a total of 180 people from 105 households. This year, the attendance by far has mainly been our seniors. We have not been able to figure out why the drop in children and adults took place.

Mark your calendar for these upcoming free community meals.

• Aug. 4: Muslim Association of the Lehigh Valley, 1988 Schadt Ave., Whitehall (703-346-8698). The meal is sit down with takeout available. While supplies last, MALV also will be giving all school-age children who attend a backpack with basic school supplies.

• Aug. 20 (4-5:30 p.m. only): St. John the Baptist social hall, 3024 S. Ruch St., Whitehall (Shari at 610-730-8067). The meal will be provided by Whitehall Wawa for sit-down eating only.

• Sept. 1: Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3355 MacArthur Road, Whitehall (610-435-0451). The meal has both sit-down and takeout options.

• Sept. 17: Whitehall Bible Fellowship Church, 3300 Seventh St., Whitehall (610-434-8661). The meal is sit-down eating only.

I also would like to thank all the meal providers for posting our meals in their parish bulletins and providing our fliers for new and repeat guests.

As a community working together, we truly are making a difference in people’s lives.

Have a great week!