We had the good fortune of connecting with Eli Wenger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eli, how does your business help the community?
At Martha’s, our mission is to build community through access to healthy food. To that end, we are the largest food pantry in Montgomery County PA., providing over 2.3 million pounds of food to over 4,100 families and 7,500 children in 2023. We believe everyone needs love and has love to give, and we use this distribution of food to provide a space that allows everyone who enters Martha’s the opportunity to give and receive this love. Through genuine conversations, personal presence, and ongoing community focused, guest led programs, we prioritize the voices of our guest community in building our programs and communicating our impact.
This leads to greater community health because people have access to the food they need as well as a greater understanding, communication and relationships of trust with other people in their community, even those who they would normally not interact with. Greater understanding and relationships of trust are often the primary factors in exiting poverty.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My primary point of focus is communicating the work we do in a way that does not reduce the people we serve to black & white statistics. Too often, in social services, our method of communicating our work (and need) is built around showing glimpses of stark poverty and desperation, with morose musical accompaniment; essentially manipulating people to give in order to alleviate their guilt. At Martha’s, our focus is showing the people we serve as real people, individuals just like you and me, living lives, listening to music, and building families, with voices as vital and spirited as yours.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville PA. . Good music, community and food all in one spot!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Patrick Walsh. My partner in crime in this work, he brought me into the world of social services and is the beating heart of the work we do at Martha’s.

Website: marthaschoicemarketplace.com

Instagram: @marthaschoicemarketplace

Image Credits
Joe Polizzi

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