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Hello party people! I am writing with an update that is heavy on my heart. I have been thinking a lot about this update & have not taken it lightly. I wanted to share this with everyone, as I do everything, and ask for support, guidance & grace. Our pay-it-forward program has been one of the most unique & fulfilling parts of creating People's Provisions. Through this mutual aid fund, our community has been able to pay for groceries for other community members in need. We are so proud to be able to feed everyone who walks through our doors. Since Opening our doors in May 2022, we've distributed $57,632.89 worth of free food through this program. This does not include our farm to school work, the backpack program, or other in-kind donations we make to non-profits in Perry County. This is solely through the pay-it-forward program & free food boxes distributed at the register at the shop.
In 2026, we have distributed $15,466.59 so far. We noticed a huge increase in families utilizing this program when we opened the doors to the new shop this summer. I am not lost on the fact that the world's current economy is horrible for every day people -- with increased gas prices especially -- everyone is struggling right now. We are so grateful that we have resources in place to get everyone food who needs it.
The pay-it-forward fund is currently operating in the negative. For 2026, we have raised $6,758.09 so far for the pay-it-forward fund from incredible generous community members. That means, for 2026, we have give out an excess of $8,709.50 worth of food that we don't currently have the cash for. This has been affecting the cash flow for our business, making paying our bills tight, and the other side of our pillar is ensuring our farmers & our people are paid equitably for their work. A huge misconception is that our prices at the shop are high because they cover the cost of the people who pay less -- the prices are set based on industry margins, ensuring the business is an effective business. The pay-it-forward fund and the free food distributed is all funded through community contributions when people round up at the register & make additional donations. I share all of these numbers to show everyone the magnitude of the need and the magnitude of the giving that has ben taking place. Our community is so good & despite this current moment being hard, this is still the most fulfilling part of running People's Provisions.
The pay-it-forward program isn't going anywhere. We are writing with updates because we are making a few programatic changes, hosting a fundraiser, and sharing more resources. If People's Provisions isn't a sustainable business, then there's no pay-it-forward program or People's Provisions at all. These changes are protecting the integrity of our shop & still ensuring that our people are getting the food they need. I hope you understand.
If you are a customer who receives free food boxes, needs help pay for groceries, or is struggling with anything that is making accessing food hard, here are resources to help you:
- Free Food Boxes are still available at the shop if you need. We are decreasing the dollar amount to $25, and we have a list with options to help you choose items that fit in that $25 range. This helps us not deplete the fund at the same rate that we have been while we are trying to fundraise to fill it back up. This will be the biggest change, and we please ask for your support.
- The shop accepts SNAP! Please use your SNAP/EBT cards at the shop to purchase any food item, which is almost everything in the shop! SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program & is a government funded food dollars program.
- The shop accepts Breadcoin! Breadcoin's mission is to create economies of dignity where everyone has a seat at the table through neighbor-funded tokens that open doors for individuals to access nutritious meals and local businesses to thrive. In 2025, we partnered with Join Hands and a few other local organizations to bring Breadcoin to Perry County. People's Provisions was the first shop & the West Perry Farmers Market was the first market in Perry County to accept Breadcoin! These tokens are funded through Join Hands in New Bloomfield, who purchases & distributes breadcoins to our community. These tokens reimburse our business fully for the food, but are free to community members. I encourage all food box customers to visit Join Hands to ask about Breadcoin.
- Our Free Food Table is out on the porch, and has food donated to us by our farmers & neighbors who garden. If there is ever food on the table, please help yourself. There is often food on this table even on the days we are closed.
- We recently announced our first of many Free Community Cooking Classes, partnering with Penn State Extension. So much of accessing local food is knowing how to cook it! We are so excited for our first class, free to our community, on October 14th. Sign ups are on the website, we hope you'll join us!
- The West Perry Backpack Program is a food distribution program that we have partnered with West Perry Middle School & High School to send home bags of local food to students bi-weekly. If you are a family who has kids in the MS or HS, please reach out to their guidance counselors to join the program. We send home groceries, snacks, and pre-made meals all locally sourced things from the shop!
- The West Perry Farmers Market matches SNAP & Breadcoin. In Fall 2024, I started the West Perry Farmers Market with my dear friend Hannah to bring a vibrant, community centered market to Perry County, where we could support local business & give our community more opportunities to enjoy local food. A huge part of starting the market was to be a non-profit, where we could give back to our community. For the 2026 Market Season, we received a Spark Grant through the Partnership for Better Health, where we have been matching funds for SNAP & Breadcoin Customers at Market. If you come to market, the information Tent can exchange your SNAP cards & Breadcoin for market bucks -- Spend $30 in SNAP, and we will give you $60 in Market Bucks to spend at all of our food vendors. Exchange 10 breadcoins ($30), and we will give you 20 breadcoins ($60) to spend at the food trucks & other food vendors. This is the greatest way to stretch your food dollars. And I volunteer at the information tent almost every week -- so you will see a familiar face when you come to market! I am very proud of this work, and I hope everyone will come to market in our last month left of the year. Mondays in October from 3-6pm at Lynn Shaeffer Dum Park in Elliottsburg.
- Neighbor Helping Neighbor Food Bank in New Bloomfield has the goal to provide support with dignity and respect, ensuring you have access to nutritious food when you need it most. I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors. We have an incredible Executive Director & the most gracious staff who really embody this mission to make the Food Bank a place of respect. They have done an incredible job filling the shelves with a huge variety of food, giving people choice in their selections, and having a little bit of everything for everyone. They also have a garden outside, and the fresh produce is available for everyone to bring home. If you haven't been to the food bank yet, I can't recommend it more!
If you are a community member who wants to support these programs, has extra money to give, or wants to get involved in our work, here are ways:
- The most simple way to help us replenish the pay-it-forward fund is to make a contribution on our website or the next time you check out at the register. Online, you can choose to make your contribution a monthly subscription, if you would like to give regularly. We are going to have a visual on the wall at the shop, showing the progress of replenishing the fund.
- Join us on October 10th for our 1st of many, Play-it-forward concerts at the shop. We are thrilled to welcome Aaron Boyd, our dear friend, singer-songwriter from Kentucky for a listening room style, after hours concert in the shop. Zach is setting up these shows, and I will set up a grazing table for light refreshments. Ticket sales will cover the cost of our musician (it's important to pay artists!!) and all the remaining funds will go directly to the pay-it-forward fund. Tickets are limited, and on sale now.
- If you would like to make a large contribution, but would prefer that your donation goes to a non-profit so it is tax-deductible, please consider donating to any of the organizations listed above: The West Perry Farmers Market to match SNAP/Breadcoin, Join Hands Mistry to Purchase Breadcoin, Neighbor Helping Neighbor to support food access to all people in Perry County. I also encourage everyone to donate to the Perry County Food Access Partnership, another nonprofit in Perry County that I will highlight below. Please tell them People's Provisions sent you.
- The Perry County Food Access Coalition & Partnership are a new non-profit that I have the privilege to be one of the founding board members for here in Perry County. We are a group of over 50 community members, business owners, and educators who are committed to strengthening Perry County's food system. The partnership is our newly founded non-profit funding organization, and we have already created initiatives to get local food to more people. We distributed 125 free food bags at Newport & Greenwood Back to School Night, all fully funded ensuring our farmers were paid. We have started developing a food coop model to distribute food into our local cafeterias -- for the past month, we have been selling apples to the cafeteria providers at Newport, Greenwood & Susquenita. These local apples were sold at the same cost as their larger, commercial food distributor. This partnership has made the connections to bring the free cooking classes to the shop, is helping us secure a walk-in cooler, and is helping us figure out the design process of bringing our commercial kitchen to the shop. The Food Access Coalition has also built community gardens at all four school districts & manages the Millerstown Community Garden. Please take a visit to the gardens!
- Please consider talking about all of these initiatives with your family & friends, as well as our state and federal government officials. Unprecedented funding cuts to SNAP at the federal level have had a huge affect on the people of Pennsylvania, and last October we had PA Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding come to the shop for a press conference urging the USDA to reinvest in the SNAP program, which is a part of the currently debated Farm Bill. At the local level, please talk to school administrators about getting local food into our schools! 10% of Perry County is considered food insecure, yet that number increases to 17% of school aged children, which is why so much of this work is geared towards our students. They are our future!
- If you are a business or individual who would like to sponsor our Backpack Program with the West Perry Middle & High Schools, please reach out. You can sign up on our website for a monthly contribution (we distribute these bags every 2 weeks throughout the school year). We have generous business sponsors including WSL Design & Build, Healthy You Cafe, The Coffee Coop, and Snyder's Church Bible School.
- Shop small and support our local farmers. Our community is what we make of it. I love Perry County because of our hometown, rural way of life, where so many different people, businesses, and community organization all come together in the most beautiful Pennsylvania hills, forests, and farm land. Businesses like ours, and all of the other local businesses, coffee shops, restaurants, and community organizations exist because y'all show up and help us create the community we want to see. Thank you for showing up for us, always and forever. It is the honor of my life to make my life's work feeding Perry County.
If you made it this long, thank you for reading. Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions, comments, and concerns. Thank you for everything you have done to make People's Provisions the place and the community that it has become. I know that we will be able to continue feeding our people, and continue paying our farmers, and continue building a strong food system in Perry County. Thank you for believing in people & food with us. Together we are feeding Perry County!
With all my love,
Lindsay
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