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Emergency food market for federal workers continues in a new Philly venue Wednesday

Philabundance officials have said they planned to hold the market for two weeks after the government reopened.

Volunteers, Lynn Balawejder, left, and Jacqueline Andrews, right, prepared to distribute free onions and potatoes to federal workers beneath I-95 at Tasker and Front Ave. on Jan. 23 as part of the first Emergency Market.
Volunteers, Lynn Balawejder, left, and Jacqueline Andrews, right, prepared to distribute free onions and potatoes to federal workers beneath I-95 at Tasker and Front Ave. on Jan. 23 as part of the first Emergency Market.Read moreJOSE F. MORENO / Staff Photographer

Although the federal government officially reopened Friday after a partial shutdown, the distribution of food to federal workers will continue, with another so-called Emergency Market being held Wednesday at a new indoor location because of expected cold weather.

The food giveaway, sponsored by Philabundance, Share Food Program, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and Campbell Soup Co., will be open to all 45,000 federal workers in the region from noon till 1 p.m. in the Victory Beer Garden within Xfinity Live! at 1100 Pattison Ave., according to a Philabundance spokesperson.

The previous market was held outdoors under I-95 in South Philadelphia on Jan. 23. Philabundance officials have said they planned to hold the market for two weeks after the government reopened. If weather permits, the Emergency Market that is scheduled for Feb. 6 will return to the original location at Front and Tasker Streets, the spokesperson said.

The federal government was partially shut down from Dec. 22 through Jan. 25. Normal operations will continue until Feb. 15, after which it is not clear whether the government will be partially shut down once more.

During the first Emergency Market, 253 federal workers gathered to receive food. It was the first time in Philabundance’s 35-year history that it enacted a disaster plan to feed people in Philadelphia.