Feed Our Food Workers campaign raises more than $120,000; the need is still critical

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- For the past few months, 6abc has teamed up with Philabundance and the Garces Foundation for our "Feed Our Food Workers" campaign.

With your incredible generosity, we've raised more than $120,000 to help put food on the tables of our restaurant workers, and the need has been simply critical.

"People told is us they needed to get food to their kids," explains Robin Morris, executive director of the Garces Foundation.

"Some people were obviously not eating in order to feed their kids. This was a relief."

Philabundance says that need is still just as great for so many of our struggling restaurant workers.

"People are still underemployed, and so the reality is the people that we're serving are out of work and it's going to take them a while to get back to the point where they can fully be self-sufficient," says Loree Jones, the CEO of Philabundance.

The line was long Tuesday at Giordano's in South Philadelphia as people came to pick up boxes full of fresh food.

Tito's Handmade Vodka also donated $20,000 to keep these efforts going.

"We really owe everything to our friends in the hospitality industry," says Dan Smith with Tito's Handmade Vodka.

"Without them, I don't think we'd be in a position to help. Now, they're in their greatest time of need, and it's our obligation to step up and do what we can to help them out."

And with the need still so very strong, our fundraising efforts continue.

The Garces Foundation is also offering other kinds of assistance to families, from health services to educational resources to job help.