Choice Belongs on the Table

By Malcolm Jenkins Foundation

Communities are shaped by what families bring with them — and what they carry home.

Every family has its own traditions, recipes and ways of preparing food passed down through generations. The ingredients and spices they combine create the smells that signal love, reunion and time spent together around the table.

Food that nourishes the body helps fuel everything that follows: the school day, the workday, practice, a conversation, or the next opportunity.

But what choices does a family have when the nearest grocery store is too far to reach? When a senior has to take a bus to buy fresh produce? When a child has more options for candy than for fruit? When quality, nutritious, appealing food is out of reach, the question becomes bigger than What’s for dinner?

It becomes: What choices are actually available?

At Get Ready Fest 2026®, our Nourishment Champion, Philabundance, made 45,000 pounds of nutritious, delicious groceries available for Philadelphia families to choose from and take home at no cost.

For more than four decades, Philabundance has helped families access the food they need. For the third year in a row, Philabundance helped ensure Get Ready Fest® families could take home with enough groceries to feed their households well beyond the day of the event. 

Essentials, with Options

At Get Ready Fest® 2026, families were invited to shop for themselves at a pop-up grocery store powered by Philabundance. They chose from fresh produce, meat, dairy and shelf-stable groceries, with an abundance of options displayed across a colorful space nearly as long as a basketball court. 

At a live demonstration by the Philabundance Community Kitchen, families saw those ingredients come together in a nutritious, delicious meal they could make at home.

The experience gave families room to choose familiar foods and explore something new. Parents filled their carts. Children picked out fruit – apples, pears, oranges, to enjoy on the way home.  Families came with carts and left with groceries they had chosen for their own tables.

Building Philly, Together

Filling refrigerators for Philadelphia families took many hands.  

Philabundance brought fresh groceries, and decades of experience expanding access to the food essentials we all need. The Philabundance Community Kitchen shared cooking knowledge through a live demonstration from culinary professionals. Sysco brought fresh produce every family need each and every week. The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation created the opportunity for families to explore, learn, and choose all in one place. 

Thank you to Philabundance for helping families bring home food they chose for themselves, and new ideas for sharing it around the table.