Philadelphia volunteers provide free food after looting forces closures

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- As some grocery stores remain closed due to looting, some members of the Philadelphia community are stepping up to help provide others with food.

Kyle Morris, "The Conductor," and his team of volunteers are driven to step up.

"We just wanted to do something positive, remind people that not everyone out here is out to get you and we can all come together during these challenging times," Morris said.

The Roxborough native created the nonprofit, The Eco Foundation, in 2018 to get young people more involved in their communities. The focus now is to help neighborhoods where access to healthy food is slim. All the food comes from donations.

"Many of us have already lived in food deserts, so when you took away our supermarkets, the need to get quality fresh produce at an affordable price was already not a thing. So we wanted to make sure we could provide free food for people," Morris said.

This effort has been going on for more than a week at a first-come, first-served basis at several sites.

Bertram's Garden is one of the several locations where you can find Morris and his team giving out food. They advertise on social media each day where they'll set up. Neighbors' faces literally lit up seeing everything was free.

"It's like hitting the lottery and then someone comes to give you something. It's a wonderful thing. I'm grateful. It was like Christmas," Sherita Morton said.

"It's very important because you see people giving back to the community and they're giving out opportunities," Remar Moore said.

"On a regular basis some people don't have it and the fruits and vegetables is what the kids need and what we really need to sustain ourselves," Korina Davis said.

The Eco Foundation plans on going strong all summer long. It's more than just free food, it's about neighbors having each other's backs.