CCFB News – July 2025
Fiscal Year Wrap-Up
That’s a wrap on our 2025 fiscal year! Thanks to our community, we were able to meet the rising need for Chester County neighbors struggling with food insecurity. This past fiscal year, we have seen an abundance of support and generosity from our community, and it has made a huge difference to those in need. Thanks to your dollars, 81% of the we food purchased this year was our Core 4 (dairy, eggs, protein and produce), allowing us to provide a large amount of fresh, familiar food to Chester County neighbors in need.
But our work is not done. With each passing year, the need continues to grow as the cost of food, housing, and transportation continues to rise. We look forward to and appreciate your support going forward as we continue to mobilize and educate the community to ensure access to nutritious and familiar food to our Chester County neighbors in need.
Thank you, Chester County, for an impactful and inspiring 2025 fiscal year!
CCFB Team Spotlight: Community Partnerships
We love our CCFB staff! This July for our monthly CCFB Team Spotlights, we’re highlighting our incredible Community Partnerships Team!
Headed by Senior Manager, Community Partnerships Laura Bender, and comprising of Community Resource Associate Michelle Soria, Community Resource Associate Matthew Regan, and Community Food Advocate Maria Zavala, CCFB’s Community Partnerships Team is dedicated to building personal relationships with community partners to assess needs, provide food assistance and offer appropriate resources to Chester County residents struggling with food insecurity.
Some of the many incredible services provided by our Food Access team include:
- Providing community partners with anything from weekly food distributions, and seasonal pop-up markets, to intermittent emergency support
- Providing the support and expertise for community partner leaders to maximize their capacity to serve members
- Conducting quarterly food provider meetings
- Managing community partnership agreements
- Supporting CCFB’s community partnerships network with distribution support in-person to help gain knowledge of needed improvements
- Providing cross-functional team support to all CCFB teams
- Monitoring compliance and food safety standards
- Managing agency-enabled retail resource management
- Managing and administering government programs such as TEFAP, SFPP, and PASS
Our Community Partnerships team is remarkable, and we are so grateful for all their efforts to, with the help of our community partners, reach all communities throughout our county through providing food, capacity-building support, and education and wellness programming to Chester County residents in need. Thank you, team!
To learn more about the great work our Community Partnerships team does, follow the link below!
Culinary Job Training
We have spots remaining in our upcoming September cohort for our free 10-week Culinary Job Training Program!
There will be three classes available in 2026: one in January, one in April, and one in September.
The January transportation will focus on Northern Chester County (Phoenixville, Spring City), and the April transportation will focus on Southern Chester County (West Chester, Kennett, West Grove).
The transportation for the September cohort will cover the Coatesville area.
Please reach out to Kyle Pettine (kpettine@chestercountyfoodbank.org, 610-873-6000 x127) for any questions you may have.
Simple Suppers Ordering
Looking for an easier way to enjoy dinner? Try Simple Suppers—delicious, nutritious, and affordable frozen meals made from scratch in the Chester County Food Bank’s licensed commercial kitchen. Prepared by professional chefs, these seasonal “heat & eat” meals are only $6 each. Proceeds from every purchase help provide meals to those in our community experiencing food insecurity.
We appreciate your support—every meal you purchase contributes to our mission of mobilizing and educating the community to ensure equitable access to nutritious and familiar food.
If you have questions, email us at simplesuppers@chestercountyfoodbank.org.
Thank you for choosing Chester County Food Bank’s Simple Suppers!
Summer Fresh2You Mobile Market
SUMMER IS HERE! Our summer Fresh2You Mobile Market season started June 3, 2025!
Fresh2You Mobile Market travels throughout Chester County June-November providing high-quality, local, seasonal, and affordable fresh foods while providing education on healthy cooking to communities with limited food access.
Payment is accepted in the form of cash, card, fruit and veggie prescriptions, and Veggie Bucks. Customers have until June 30, 2025 to use last years’ Veggie Bucks.
Visit our website to see our weekly Mobile Market schedule!
Need Help?
We know that experiencing food insecurity can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to face it alone. Together with our incredible community partners, we are here to provide support and resources to anyone in need.