It Was Like Riding in the Victory Parade for a Basketball Championship. . .

We welcome Terry Pernsley to Poverty’s Edge.  Terry is a warehouse worker/driver at Second Harvest Food Bank.  Twice a month he works shoulder to shoulder with the many volunteers who assist with packing bags for Backpack Buddies and Boxes for the food bank’s senior program.  He enjoys giving back to the community through his work and his own volunteer efforts.

It Was Like Riding in the Victory Parade for a Basketball Championship. . .

Sunday, March 18, dawned foggy and gray.  Sort of like the day might dawn in Ireland.  By noon, the fog had lifted and the sun was out! Perfect for the Allentown St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

For the past couple of years, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has included a food drive as part of the festivities. The food drive helps people with Irish roots recall the Famine of the 1840’s and the reason that so many Irish are now proud Irish-Americans.

I was happy and privileged to be able to drive the Second Harvest Food Bank truck with its graphic empty bowl and message “protecting a basic human right” in this year’s parade.

My heart swelled to hear the outpouring of support for the food bank and its mission. Chants of “Second Harvest, Second Harvest” rang through the air. Kids along the parade route signaled and shouted for me to blow the horn, and I was happy to oblige.

At the end of the day, the Boy Scouts and National Guard had collected over 1,200 pounds of food for Second Harvest, and I collected memories I’ll treasure forever.

#caclv #hunger #shfbSecondHarvestFoodBankoftheLehighValleyandNortheastPennsylvania #SHFBFoodDrive #AllentownStPatricksDayParade #poverty