Feeding Families with a Groove: Recapping Second Harvest’s Annual Fundraiser

Wow—what a night! We had an incredible time at Second Harvest Food Bank’s biggest fundraiser of the year, Friday Night Fever, held at ArtsQuest in Bethlehem. We're so grateful to the 220+ community members, generous sponsors, food advocates, government officials, and local volunteers who showed up dressed to the nines in their best disco-inspired looks! Thanks to your support, we raised over $100,000 through this event.

This themed evening was a fresh spin on our usual annual Empty Bowls fundraiser—we wanted to try something different this year and create a fun, inclusive space that invited even more community members to join us.

While the night was full of flair and feel-good retro vibes, it also carried a powerful purpose: to shine a light on the serious issue of food insecurity in our state, especially within Second Harvest’s six-county service region. Our goal was to bring the community together not just to raise funds, but to celebrate the impact we’ve made, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the incredible things we can accomplish in the future with continued support.

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We started the night off with our Event Emcee, Ashely Russo, CEO and Founder of ASR Media. Ashley is a 25-year media veteran, recipient of numerous awards, and strong community advocate who directly supports Second Harvest Food Bank and CALV.

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Next, we heard opening remarks from Dawn Godshall, Executive Director of Community Action Lehigh Valley. While the evening carried a fun and celebratory energy, Dawn grounded us in the purpose behind this event: the urgent need to raise funds and continue advocating for food access

She stated, “The USDA has officially canceled the COVID Relief portion of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) after August 2025. As a result, Pennsylvania pantries will lose nearly half a million pounds of food. The discontinuation of Local Food Purchase Agreement (LFPA) funding will also be detrimental to both families and farmers. Last year, Second Harvest supported about 40 local farmers by purchasing meat, eggs, dairy, and fresh produce from them, then distributing these products to about 170 food pantries in the region. These decisions will begin a ripple effect throughout the remainder of the year and beyond. Members of our Pennsylvania communities will go hungry, and local farmers will lose critical funding they were counting on to sustain their operations and support their own families.”

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Dawn then introduced Sarah Wassel, the new Associate Executive Director of Second Harvest Food Bank. At the time of the event, Sarah had just completed her first month in the role! We all recognize that she’s stepped into a demanding position, but she took it on because she’s deeply committed to addressing food insecurity and supporting families.

In her remarks, Sarah shared, “I wanted to be able to stand up here and stay positive. But that’s hard, knowing that we are facing big funding losses while food insecurity continues to rise. 1 in 6 children are food insecure in the six counties we serve. We’ve lost the equivalent $506,000 - or 271,000 pounds of food. We have lost 68 slots for our senior boxes, with over a thousand on the wait list…How do we decide who doesn’t receive one?”

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Next, we shifted our focus to the incredible supporters who bring positivity and purpose to our work—whether through food and monetary donations, volunteering their time, or forming partnerships that help our food bank thrive and deliver nutritious food to those who need it most.

Members of the operations team were proud to honor Home Depot as Second Harvest Food Bank’s 2025 Corporate Partner of the Year where we watched a video on their work with us and presented a trophy to Brad Hendershot, Store Manager and Community Captain for District 57.

Watch Home Depot & SHFB's Partnership Video

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We also recognized our 2025 Volunteer Group of the Year: AARP. This dedicated group has been a consistent presence in our warehouse, helping to pack, sort, and prepare donations. Their efforts have made a huge impact on families throughout our service region, and we truly couldn’t complete all this work without their volunteered support!

Watch AARP in Action with SHFB

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Watch BattleBorne's Message of Support

One of the highlights of the evening was hearing from Chris Yarnell, a dedicated veteran advocate and founder of BattleBorne—a collaborative local nonprofit committed to supporting veterans, first responders, and their families by fostering resilience, connection, and well-being. BattleBorne partners directly with Second Harvest to distribute our MilitaryShare packs, reaching over 500 families each month.

Chris spoke powerfully about the impact of our partnership on veterans across Pennsylvania, emphasizing the importance of continuing to work together to expand our reach and support those who need us most—and who are deeply deserving of our efforts. Plus, he brought along some of his staff and local veterans, who energized the room and showed incredible support for their cause!

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A huge thanks to the 20+ local bakeries who donated disco-themed cakes for our cake auction! Your incredible desserts made the night that much more fun, festive, and delicious. While there are too many to name, we were lucky to feature an amazing variety—from the Funky French Toast Cake by Pagie’s Cake & Cookies, to Funfetti Vanilla Buttercream from Sweet Girlz, Groovy German Chocolate Cake by The Club at Twin Lakes, Cavallo’s Grand Marnier Cake from La Locanda del Cavallo, Cookies & Cream Cake from Zekraft, Ricotta Cheesecake from Easton Baking Co., Peanut Butter Funk Pie from Edge Restaurant, and so many more!

Special shout out to Lisa Higgins, Betsy Storey-Bono, and Ferzana Ramin for organizing Friday Night Fever's dessert auction!

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Big thanks to our disco dancers, Alesia & Tracey, for getting the party started and bringing the groove to the dance floor!

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A huge thank you to our generous anonymous Friday Night Fever sponsor - your support made a huge impact on our event! We’re also incredibly grateful to our Mirror Ball, Disco Diva, and Funkytown sponsors, including:

• American Fence & Flag

• ASR Media

• Dual Temp

• ESSA Bank & Trust

• Follett

• David & Patti Gleb Foundation

• Guardian

• Jim & Deb Honer (in memory of Bettye Sue Hurley)

• Horwith Trucks

• Just Born

• Land Rover Allentown

• Lehigh Valley Disc Club

• Lehigh Valley Health Network

• PSECU

• Shafnisky Electric

• Shop Rite

• Unity Bank

• Valley Central Veterinary Emergency Center

• Working Dog Press

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Thank you to our local representatives, legislators, and political supporters who attended, including: 

• Ann Flood (State Representative)

• Ryan Mackenzie (US Congressman)

• Zach Mako (State Representative)

• Crystal Rose (Easton City Council)

• Steve Samuelson (State Representative)

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And of course, a big thank you to our Second Harvest Food Bank staff and Community Action Lehigh Valley's Development Team for planning and assisting with this fundraising event:

• Joanne Anderson, Senior Development Officer

• Jill Davis, Development Officer

• Ela Madrazo, Director of Marketing & Communications

• Ferzana Ramin, Development Officer

• Wendy Wright, Development Officer

Photography by: Marco Calderon, @calederonphoto

Event Videography by: ASR Media