SAYRE, P.A. (WETM) – On Wednesday, the Child Hunger Outreach Partners (CHOP) organization held a pop-up pantry to bring food for people of Bradford County. CHOP used a mobile pantry truck to address the issue of food insecurity within Bradford and Sullivan counties.

The organization is going on its 3rd year of hosting pop-up pantry events since the Covid-19 pandemic. The idea of helping those who may need some extra assistance came from Bailey Ruhf who serves as the donor relations specialist at CHOP.

“If we can’t solve it, we can at least help out,” said Bailey Ruhf. “In whichever way we can, we want to lift people up a little bit.”

Her mother, founder and CEO of CHOP Dani Ruhf, knew what it was like to be someone in need of food, and she liked her daughter’s idea.

“I wanted to act on it,” said Dani Ruhf. “I knew what that felt like. So, I didn’t want any of the kids to have to.”

The truck received a grant of $20,000 from Guthrie. In a press release Guthrie says its grant has “supported this effort, enabling the purchase of a van and additional food items to nourish the communities we serve.” Dr. Frederick Bloom, chief population health officer at Guthrie says oftentimes, food insecurity is a prominent issue in Braford and Sullivan counties that goes unnoticed.

“It’s not obvious in the community, but there are a large number of patients, people that live in our counties that really have significant food insecurity,” said Dr. Bloom.

Over a hundred cars pulled up to receive boxes of food assembled by volunteers. Some vehicles beginning to line up around 9:45 a.m. According to CHOP, they served 223 individuals today alone.

If you would like to learn more about CHOP, you can visit their website.