CAN DO staff members,Brian Demshock, Utility Supervisor, and Marc Evancho, Utility Specialist, deliver 500 boxes for the food resources initiative.The office of State Rep. Tarah Toohil and the Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO) have been working together to stabilize food resources to help those in need throughout Greater Hazleton during the coronavirus pandemic.

The initiative has been conducted with various food banks throughout Greater Hazleton and Toohil said the focus is on serving as many people in need as possible during this difficult time.

“Our office has been working with CEO to prepare our community with stable food pantry resources. We are trying to stabilize as many food banks as possible, as the need for food is growing as our community is faced with high unemployment and loss of income during the COVID-19 disaster declaration,” Toohil said.

In addition to supplying food, there was a need for corrugated boxes to make it possible to deliver the meals throughout the area. CAN DO assisted with the collection and delivery of more than 500 boxes for the project. The boxes came from several companies throughout CAN DO's parks, including PSI Container, Packaging Wholesalers, International Paper and others.

Toohil said, “We were able to set up 500 meals to be delivered last week but then there was an issue with needing delivery boxes. We are grateful to Nancy Stasko from CAN DO for immediately reaching out to the local employers to fulfill the need. We have an excellent group of community resources and we are glad that they were so immediately responsive. This is what makes the Greater Hazleton area a great community.”