The Sunday Love Project, a nonprofit based in Kensington, runs a free grocery store that aims to combat the alarming statistics facing Philadelphia, writes Courtenay Harris Bond for PhillyVoice.

Philadelphia is the nation’s poorest big city, and the spiking local food costs are aggravating the financial crisis that disproportionately impacts communities of color.

According to the Philadelphia Poverty Action Fund, this affects more than 350,000 Philadelphia residents – including 100,000 children – each day.

In 2022, the Sunday Love Project opened Greater Goods, allowing families and individuals to shop for free once a week. 

According to Sunday Love founder Margaux Murphy, Greater Goods serves an average of 100 people a day who receive approximately $40 to $45 worth of groceries, paper goods, cleaning, and personal products at a time.

Greater Goods products enable families and individuals to make multiple fresh meals a week.

“We don’t want to be an ordinary (food) pantry in which people visit us and rely on us for the rest of their lives,” said Leah Santos, who sits on Sunday Love’s board. “We want people to use us as a bridge to eating healthier, as a bridge to their community, as a bridge to maybe finding employment.”

Read more about how the Sunday Love Project combats food insecurity across Philadelphia in PhillyVoice. 

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