Dozens of Toyota Tundra pickup trucks will roll through the streets of Philadelphia on Wednesday morning with one mission: to help drive out hunger.
The convoy is part of the 16th annual Toyota Tundra Food Drive, benefiting Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization. The event aims to deliver enough food to feed thousands of people in need across the Delaware Valley.
For people like Sando McGill, the help couldn’t come at a better time.
The Drexel Hill resident said she’s been out of work for a year due to severe back pain and currently has no income. She relies on Murphy’s Giving Market, a pantry in Upper Darby that receives food from Philabundance, to feed her family.
“They help me a lot,” McGill said. “I get my milk, I get my eggs, get my fish and get anything they can put on my table.”
The food drive kicks off Wednesday morning at Philabundance’s warehouse in North Philadelphia. Nearly 85 Toyota Tundras will form a line stretching the length of nearly seven football fields. The convoy will head down Columbus Boulevard and end at Citizens Bank Park, where staff and volunteers have already set up orange cones in Parking Lot P to guide the trucks and safely unload thousands of pounds of food.
Philabundance and Tundra Food Drive said in a release the event is not open to the general public due to safety considerations. “If you or someone you know needs food assistance immediately, please call 1-800-5-HUNGRY or visit Philabundance’s website.”
“With this food drive, Toyota is providing 234,000 meals,” Philabundance CEO Loree Jones Brown said. “I feel really encouraged and grateful.”
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 13.5% of households — totaling 18 million Americans — experienced food insecurity in 2023.
Brown said the hunger crisis is growing because of rising living costs and the expiration of pandemic-era relief programs.
“The reality is that food insecurity is really tough, and it’s even tougher now because it’s going in the wrong direction,” she said.
For McGill, events like these mean a little less worry and a lot more hope.
“One of the happier days will be tomorrow in my life,” McGill said. “Because people will be happy to get that meal on their table for their family.”
Brown said Philabundance is working not only to meet immediate needs, but also to develop long-term solutions through job training programs, community partnerships and public policy advocacy to improve food access year-round.
Toyota’s regional dealers, employees and business partners are supporting the drive, which is part of a broader Hunger Action Month campaign in partnership with Feeding America.