The Prep donates Tea, Sugar, and Diapers to St. Francis Inn

Children play outside of the St. Francis Inn Soup Kitchen on Hagert Street in Kensington, during the Inn's popular summer block party.  The Prep donated 67 pounds of diapers to the Inn this month.  This picture is from the Inn's website.

Organizing the pantry and preparing for delivery.

     Faculty, students, parents, alumni and staff of the Prep donated hundreds of pounds of food and supplies to the Hurtado Food Pantry last week, much of which was in turn loaded up on to a Prep van and donated to St. Francis Inn.

     Depending on the time of the month, St. Francis Inn serves upwards of 600 meals per day (particularly on the days when they serve both breakfast and dinner).  During the winter, hot tea is brewed and consumed there in great quantities.

     When asked about the requested diapers, Karen Pushaw (a veteran full-timer at the Inn) explained that "We have more than 200 parents/guardians listed in the book,* whom we have served in the past year.  Some have more than one child.  Most are from the neighborhood [Kensington]; many do not eat at the Inn regularly, but just come for diapers & other baby needs."

   Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that "Philadelphia's poverty rate did slip a tad from 26.9 percent to 26.3 percent between 2012 and 2013" and that "The Children's Defense Fund says by investing an additional 2 percent of the federal budget into existing programs and policies, the nation could reduce child poverty by 60 percent and lift 6.6 million children out of poverty."

From Left to Right: Sophomore Charles Whitman, Junion Pat Gillespie, Senior Evan Mazmanian, and Junior Brendan Heenan loading the van with supplies.

*St.  Francis Inn maintains a binder, containing the details of families who have children in need, and how often they receive resources from the Inn.