In the News
A gathering of gratefulnessTimes-Leader
Washington,
May 30, 2024
The Hazleton One Community Center hosted a big night for the Hazleton Integration Project (HIP) on Wednesday. HIP touted the development of their food availability programs and showed off their facilities to local officials, while attendees heard from a World Series champion and Hazleton native who helped to set up the organization in the first place. Former Major League baseball manager and HIP co-founder Joe Maddon was on hand for Wednesday night’s event, which largely focused on HIP’s Eradicating Food Insecurity Initiative. The event began with a presentation by HIP’s other co-founder, Bob Curry, who detailed some of the efforts made by the HIP Corp United team. That team is made up of high school students, who develop solutions regarding social justice and food insecurity in the Hazleton area. Curry let the students do most of the talking during this segment of the event, which was overseen by Maddon, U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright, State Senator David Argall, and a number of other elected officials. Curry specifically pointed out the efforts made by Cartwright, whose 8th Congressional District covers the entirety of the city of Hazleton. Curry phrased his praise for Cartwright in the form of a question he regularly poses to the HIP Corp United team. “Is it okay for someone in this community, where we have enough food to feed every person… Is it okay for you that someone is going to bed hungry, like your fellow students? It is definitely not okay for Congressman Matt Cartwright. He was not okay with children going to bed hungry in his district,” said Curry. Curry said that Cartwright, Argall, U.S. Senator Bob Casey and State Representative Dane Watro, all of whom were represented at Wednesday’s event, have supported HIP’s causes on the state and federal levels. |