Non Profit Organization Serves Over 4,000 Meals to Schuylkill County Kids and Front Line Workers

In times of need, an organization in Pottsville stepped up and wanted to make a difference.

Story and Photos by Jocelyn Hcarah/Danie Mae Photography LLC

Dustin’s Adventureland, wanted to ensure that children in Pottsville and surrounding areas would be able to get a lunch if needed, along with first responders.

“The program started in the middle of March, when the schools shut down. There was nothing set up to provide the children lunches. With our group, we decided to try to put something together to serve lunches. We put it together pretty quickly. We started out with only 50 children. I contacted Terry Alexander from the soup kitchen to get some connections with food, and St. Pat’s Church generously gave us use of their facility. We were able to expand to 100 kids from 50, and now we are averaging 160 kids, plus we serve grocery store workers, first responders, etc. We are actually maxed out with the routes that we have.” Jeffrey Dunkel stated.

“The support has been pretty overwhelming, Skook Auto Sales has been our biggest supporter since the beginning. Next week is sponsored by Vintage 61 Store House in Deer Lake. We also did a facebook fundraiser, the original goal was $1,000, by the end of that day we surpassed the goal. Eventually, we reached $4,300. Actually, on Thursday night me and Jimmy Womer, the president of our group, are shaving our heads due to reaching the goal amounts.” said Dunkel.

Right now the group is planning on serving lunches until the end of May. At that point, all the volunteers will hopefully be going back to their normal jobs when the pandemic ceases to exist. 

Some of the volunteers on Wednesday, included Eric Salen, Eric Salen Jr., Adrianna Bodnar, Charles Shuster, Sarah Moyer, Megan Mike, and Jodece Hook. At the end of the day, April 22nd, the program has served over 4,400 meals. 

Dustin's Adventureland is a 501c3 that is working on constructing Schuylkill County's first ever playground for children with special needs.  The group was also organizing the 2nd Annual Dustin's Special Egg Hunt which is Schuylkill County only egg hunt that was developed for children with special needs.

Stay tuned later Thursday to watch the Facebook live video of some of the volunteers shaving their heads!

Skook News will share when the video goes live!

To learn more about Dustin's Adventureland, check out their Facebook page for all their news and updates at https://www.facebook.com/Dustins-Adventureland-109933417211885/.