The Chester County Food Bank will accept produce donations beginning next week on Tuesday 5/26. They will accept produce donations from HOME GROWERS Monday and Wednesday 10-12 PM and Raised Bed Garden PARTNERS on Tuesday and Thursday 10-12PM. Gardeners can pull up to the side of the building where you will see a station set up with a produce scale and donation slips to fill out. There will be a pallet with crates for the produce to be placed into. After placing the produce in the crates, the gardener will ring the bell that is set up near the stairs and then return to their vehicle. A staff member will respond to the bell and bring the produce in immediately. 

*In the case of severe weather, the drop-off station will be moved directly inside of the warehouse door.

When donating to CCFB bagging in bulk is preferred – organized by crop. Do not mix muddy roots with leafy greens. Do not seal bags completely, leave them slightly opened to allow respiration/moisture to escape. Large clear bags or produce bags can be provided by CCFB.

When donating directly to food cupboards bag produce in household sized portions in produce bags. 

Please review our recommendations for best practices for harvesting and donating produce. 

• Do not harvest while sick.
• Wash hands thoroughly and wear glovesUse clean tools and containers
• Only donate quality produce you would enjoy eating yourself.
• Agencies reserve the right to decline your donation if it does not meet their standards of quality. For example: bolted, excessively muddy, or inedible.

Here are agencies that will also accept produce donations:

Earlier this week, Pennsylvania received approval from Food and Nutrition Service to join the pilot program that lets SNAP recipients purchase groceries online through participating retailers in early June.

Now that approval has been received, DHS is working with its EBT vendor and approved retailers to implement system changes necessary to implement online payment for PA’s SNAP recipients. These system changes will take approximately two weeks to complete the testing and validation. Implementation could not begin without FNS’ approval. Now that approval has been received, OHS expects to have online grocery purchasing activated for SNAP recipients by the beginning of June. Once active, only eligible food items normally paid for by SNAP will be able to be purchased online with SNAP benefits. Delivery fees, driver tips, and other associated charges may not be paid for with SNAP benefits. Due to the expedited timeframe to implement this initiative does not include the ability to transact Cash Assistance benefits using the EBT card. Therefore, individuals will need to use another method of payment to cover the non-allowable fees such as a pre-paid debit card.

The pilot program currently includes three approved retailers: Amazon, Walmart, and ShopRite. Retailers that are interested in participating must contact FNS to review the requirements to be added to the program. And, just as a reminder, retailers that do not wish to join the pilot program can still offer delivery or pick-up flexibility options for SNAP recipients by using mobile EBT processing equipment that would allow customers to pay with SNAP when groceries are delivered or picked up. Farmers markets may be able to receive this processing equipment at no cost through a grant opportunity provided by DI-IS.