All You Can Inc. provided free meals to the Harrisburg community for Father’s Day to help unify the neighborhood.
Organizers said volunteers provided more than 200 meals to fathers and even some mothers at the bus station at 2nd and Market Street.
“Everyone was high spirited and to be able to be coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, you know right into a little bit of normalcy with a high amount of the population being vaccinated, it's just a joyous way to come together and unify,” Ralph Rodriguez, executive director of All You Can Inc., said.
Rodriguez said the event had the ambiance of being at a family cookout in your backyard, serving favorites such as burgers, hot dogs, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese.
“The menu is just as important as the event itself,” Rodriguez said. “We like to take effort, we think our community deserves it, just as if they were paying for the event.”
He also said additional food didn’t go to waste and was supplied to the surrounding community.
There were around 40 volunteers which included Harrisburg native Garry Gilliam, former NFL offensive tackle and CEO of The Bridge Eco-Village, according to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said he hopes the Father’s day event continues to fulfill the organization’s goal to inspire kids to become beacons of change in their communities.
He went on:
“The education portion is uplifting our youth to one-day run non-profits and become leaders in the city," he said. "It’s important, we’re really putting the medicine in the candy, if you will, and when people leave, they’re leaving with resources. They’re leaving with a better tomorrow, they’re leaving with friendships, they’re leaving with smiles."
The mission of All You Can Inc. is to provide basic needs and emergency resources to at-risk families in Central Pennsylvania.