SPRING MILLS — The Old Gregg School Community Center in Spring Mills was the site of the grand opening of the Penns Valley Food Centre on May 1. According to Molly Kunkel, executive director of Centre Foundation, the Food Centres project was created as a network of nonprofit food hubs designed to improve food security and food literacy in Centre County. It aims to make healthy, local food accessible to all Centre County residents.
Last October, the Food Centres organization received a $100,000 grant from the Centre Foundation through its Centre Inspires granting program. A Food Centre itself is a large metal shipping container that has been retrofitted to include cold storage, freezer space and space for activities.
On the day before the grand opening, many volunteers helped to install the Food Centre and to build raised beds for a community learning garden. They planted many pollinator-friendly plants on the south lawn of the Community Center.
The Penns Valley Food Centre will provide food-based educational programs to the Penns Valley community, including cooking and gardening classes, as well as providing fresh produce to several food pantries in the area, which will now be able to offer fresh produce to their recipients. Volunteers will also collect extra food from farms, grocery stores and restaurants to store in the cold-storage units.
Kevin Sims, gleaning coordinator for the project, said it began about a year ago with a grant application to Centre Foundation. He encouraged local gardeners to “grow an extra row” this year, and donate that row’s produce to the Food Centre.
Jessie Pierce, administrative coordinator for the Food Centres project, said that the New Leaf Initiative, a nonprofit organization that fosters entrepreneurism by providing space and resources to entrepreneurs, and others in the State College area, is overseeing the project and acting as its fiscal sponsor. They plan to erect other Food Centres in the county in the near future to meet the needs of local food banks.
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