03/20/2021
Check out this letter from Kellyn's Board of Directors Vice Chair, Marc Rittle. We are excited to be a part of the process for increasing healthy food access in Bethlehem :-)!
By now you may have heard that Ahart’s market in South Bethlehem is closing by the end of April (https://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-nws-bethlehem-aharts-market-closing-20210310-2flonue6j5cnvjhi4qwyop3pay-story.html).
I was in a meeting at New Bethany Ministries when one of our staff returned from Ahart's across the street and informed us of the closure. The news hit hard. We live in a food desert by every definition of the term. If no grocery store or opportunity to acquire healthy food is within a one mile radius of your home, then you live in a food desert. And while the community works for a permanent solution to replace Ahart's, we need something to sustain us for the weeks and months to come.
Enter the Kellyn Foundation's Eat Real Food Mobile Market (https://www.kellyn.org/kellyn-food-access.html). Anyone with grade school children in the Lehigh Valley might know about Kellyn from papers and stories brought home describing what healthy food is and isn't. Kellyn's mission is to promote healthy lifestyles for all, especially through what you eat. The organization recognizes that low-income communities most often experience barriers to accessing healthy foods.
To solve this problem, Kellyn got inventive. Rather than launch a dozen brick-and-mortar grocery stores in food deserts across the Lehigh Valley, the organization purchased a commercial vehicle to launch a dozen pop-up locations. They sell fresh foods at low and reduced costs to local residents. They provide samples and recipe demonstrations. They accept SNAP (food stamps) and other voucher programs to offer free and reduced groceries.
This week the City of Bethlehem announced a new partnership with the Kellyn Eat Real Food Mobile Market. Given the suddenness of Ahart's departure, a popup mobile market is truly the quickest and most effective solution for Bethlehem SouthSiders. Kellyn already has the infrastructure and ability to purchase foods at wholesale prices. There couldn't be a more perfect solution. Kellyn is embracing the challenge.
Kellyn's response to this crisis, in partnership with community leaders, is the very model of what this work is all about. In less than one week of Ahart's announcing their departure, community residents rallied, the City of Bethlehem responded, and Kellyn stepped up in a big way to fill what otherwise would have been a major gap in food access for Bethlehem residents.
Kellyn Foundation is a very humble organization. They accomplish a lot with very few resources. If ever there was a time to put dollars toward a solution, this is it. I contribute a monthly amount to the Kellyn Foundation through their PayPal account, and have for years. Here is more information as to how you can contribute (https://www.kellyn.org/donate.html). Please do so today and share this message with your friends.
Thank you for being a part of the community solution.
- Marc Rittle
Marc Rittle is a member of the Kellyn Foundation board of directors, as well as the executive director of New Bethany Ministries.
