Martha’s Choice Marketplace is the largest and most visited food pantry in Montgomery County serving men, women and children facing food insecurity.
Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (CSS) has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Connelly Foundation benefiting Martha’s Choice Marketplace. Martha’s Choice Marketplace is located at CSS’ Montgomery County Family Service Center in Norristown (Montgomery County).
The grant will be used for general operating support over two years (2022 and 2023). It will positively impact Martha’s Choice Marketplace’s mission of offering a dignified grocery shopping experience where those in need and facing food insecurity can shop for food of their choosing.
In 2021, Martha’s Choice Marketplace completed nearly 10,000 household food pantry distributions to food insecure families consisting of approximately 35,000 individuals. Nearly 1.3 million pounds of food was distributed.
Through its Martha’s Community Farm initiative, Martha’s Choice Marketplace also harvested 5,000 pounds of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, leeks, herbs, and peppers. This community-based response further supplements households benefitting from Martha’s Choice Marketplace and supports its network of food pantries throughout Montgomery County.
In addition to distributing food, Martha’s Choice Marketplace also provides a holistic approach to hunger prevention by offering nutritional education and personal empowerment opportunities uplifting each client’s dignity.
New program innovations at Martha’s Choice Marketplace are forthcoming and include full choice online ordering at the food pantry as well as increased crop production this spring at the farm.
About the Connelly Foundation
The Connelly Foundation was founded in 1955 by John and Josephine Connelly. John Connelly achieved remarkable business success as president of Connelly Containers and later Crown Cork and Seal, both manufacturing companies based in Philadelphia. He and his wife Josephine, strongly motivated by their Catholic faith and their love for the Philadelphia region, dedicated their good fortune to helping others. Over the past 67 years the Connelly Foundation has donated over $465 million to nonprofit organizations in the Philadelphia area focusing on education, human services, and the arts. The Connelly Foundation has always placed a particular emphasis on Catholic education, with thousands of Philadelphia-area students having attended Catholic high schools through the foundation’s Neumann Scholars and Josephine C. Connelly Achievement Award programs. For more information, please visit www.connellyfdn.org.
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Editor’s Note: For more information on Martha’s Choice Marketplace, visit http://marthaschoicemarketplace.com/. Those interested in volunteering at the Community Farm or making a financial contribution to support the work of Martha’s Choice Marketplace can visit https://marthaschoicemarketplace.com/community-farm/ for more information.
For more information on Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, visit https://cssphiladelphia.org/.