President Biden returns to Philabundance in his third visit to Pa. this year

The third time is the charm for President Joe Biden, who volunteered at Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger-relief organization, on Monday. It was the president’s third time in four years visiting the food bank on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and his third visit to Pennsylvania so far this year. He was joined by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.

In 2021, the president and first lady Jill Biden volunteered at Philabundance for Martin Luther King Jr. Day just days before his inauguration, and the pair visited again in 2022 — and sang the Philadelphia Eagles’ fight song. Biden celebrated King’s legacy in Atlanta and Washington last year.

On Monday, about two dozen volunteers ages 13 to 33 were placing bags of rice, low-fat milk, taco shells, and other foods onto a conveyor belt while listening to music (from a playlist provided by Biden’s team for his 2021 visit) when the president and the mayor entered Philabundance’s packing room.

The frequency of Biden’s trips to Pennsylvania and the choice of Philadelphia for the national holiday highlights the region’s strategic importance in his likely reelection matchup with former President Donald Trump.

About half of the volunteers were AmeriCorps members and the rest were recipients of Philabundance’s services who were recommended by partner organizations or by their teachers.

Volunteers were “up in lights,” in excitement about the president’s visit, said Tammy Siebert, 34, a Philabundance employee who distributes meals at Woodstock Family Center.

Parker, who stayed about 10 minutes before departing to ring the bell at the Sixers game, walked through the door first, wearing a red plaid blazer. Sporting a blue quarter-zip sweater, Biden jogged beside her, and proudly pointed to his green Philabundance baseball cap.

They stood next to each other along the conveyor belt, chatting with young volunteers who stood across the belt. Parker placed bags of carrots in the boxes that moved by her, and Biden handled bundles of apples.

Dañiela Wright, an AmeriCorps volunteer, packed onions beside Biden.

Wright, 24, said that while she was nervous at first, Biden just felt like “a regular guy.” She said she appreciated that he asked the volunteers about themselves.

“He did a really good job of making sure that everybody that was in the room around him was heard,” she said.

Brittany Gill-Irving, 35, a volunteer who participates in Philabundance’s workforce program, was excited to meet the president. “He told us a story about his childhood and keeping faith alive, keeping hope alive, and I really admire that because I strive for that, too,” she said.

Philabundance CEO Loree Jones-Brown said the president spent about 15 minutes speaking with volunteers about his decision to become a public defender and what King meant to him.

During his visit, which lasted about an hour, Biden shook hands, hugged, or fist-bumped all the volunteers and Philabundance staff, she said.

“He really celebrated them and thanked them for being committed to service,” Jones-Brown said. “Their eyes lit up; it was pretty incredible.”

Pennsylvania has become a regular stop for Biden, underscoring the state’s importance in this year’s presidential race. Before Monday, he had visited the state at least 18 times since becoming president.

Biden made his first big reelection campaign speech of the year at Montgomery County Community College on Jan. 5, and on Friday, he visited businesses in the Allentown area.

About 15 pro-Palestinian protesters were gathered outside Philabundance in opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel in its war against Hamas amid heavy Palestinian casualties in Gaza. They chanted “shame on you” as the president departed the South Philadelphia warehouse, according to a White House pool report.

The nonprofit Philabundance serves about 135,000 people each week across 350 pantries and soup kitchens in the Greater Philadelphia region, according to Jones-Brown. The organization strives to provide meals that are both nutritious and culturally diverse, and Monday’s meal kit came with a recipe for chicken and rice written in English and Spanish, she said.

Alongside its food bank and community kitchen workforce training programs, Philabundance advocates for government-assistance programs like the Pennsylvania Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and initiatives through the Farm Bill.

Jones-Brown said that Philabundance employees spoke to Biden about the importance of WIC — a food assistance program for at-risk mothers and their young children — which the organization is calling to be fully funded.

Siebert, a single mom of four who was trained through Philabundance’s community kitchen program before working at the organization, said she was inspired to attend on Monday after hearing about WIC funding shortfalls.

“I am currently on WIC,” she said. “ … That little bit of help that I get, if they were to cut that off, I would have to choose between our electric bill or Pampers and milk, and they’re all necessities.”