Being in the food business provides us with an excellent opportunity to help disadvantaged people with a very basic need – food.  Over the years we have donated food and money to a wide variety of charities and events.  We have always felt good about helping our business partners with the causes that are important to them.  But this year we really wanted to do something bigger by sponsoring  a full scale event of our own.

Growing a business requires a lot of focus and a bit of selfishness.  It took us years of saving and looking out for ourselves to put us in a position to buy and renovate our own facility, allowing us to continue to grow and thrive as a business.  Once that was achieved, we vowed to focus more on giving back; to the environment with our green initiatives, to the community with hiring and apprenticeship programs, and to the underprivileged through charity – our charity – PCC 5000.

The goal of the  PCC 5000 project is to provide 5000 meals to needy and disadvantaged people in our local area.   The act of charity is truly satisfying when you are certain that you have made a small difference in someone’s life – even if it is as simple as a nourishing meal. Thanksgiving seemed like the right time, and 5000 seemed like a good goal number to get started.  So, we began our search to partner with an organization that would assist us in best reaching those in need.

Our search ended with someone in our own kitchen – Nate Wilson.  Nate volunteers with Bridging The Gap Ministries – http://www.btgmphilly.org.  They help the neediest in Philadelphia by providing some basic necessities along with spiritual guidance.   Nate and Elder Dennis of BTGM arranged the venue for 100 homeless and disadvantaged people to take part in our first installment of PCC 5000.  Then Nate recruited a group of employees from Philadelphia Catering to volunteer their time to help prepare, deliver and serve the meal.   My son and daughter took a half day from school to participate as well.

Tony and Nate perfect the gravy

Tony prepares the vegetables

Roz volunteers her time to prepare the turkey

A.J. took time from school to help with the event

While Philadelphia Catering provided the food, it truly was a team effort with employees volunteering their time in the kitchen.  The atmosphere in the kitchen was unexpectedly joyful – here we are doing what we do every day only this time not for monetary profit.  Our everyday business took on a new meaning as we all understood how much this could mean to someone in need.   The event was a great success with over 100 people attending.  Everyone had a nice satisfying meal as well as an extra helping of spiritual inspiration from Elder Dennis of BTGM.  All left smiling, full and inspired.  We look forward to next year again with Nate & BTGM – only 4900 to go!!

Alan, Jared and A.J. serving from the buffet

Roasted turkey with cornbread stuffing

Elder Dennis inspires the crowd with his story