Eniola Iruaregbon, outside her store in Harrisburg in 2022
For her birthday, a local entrepreneur has one wish: to help those in her community.
On Aug. 8, Eniola Iruaregbon, owner of Eniola African Food Store, will donate 100 bags of food to her neighbors in need, on her birthday.
“I want to give back to the community,” she said. “A lot of people need food.”
Iruaregbon opened her store, which sells African groceries, on Derry Street in Harrisburg in January 2022, hoping to fill a gap in access to African food in the area.
With her food giveway, Iruaregbon’s goal is the same, to make it easier for customers to find food from their culture, specifically those who can’t afford to purchase it.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Iruaregbon will hand out bags filled with items like bread, cereal, milk and vegetables, as well as African food staples. She included items to make it easy for someone to cook an African meal, she said.
According to Iruaregbon, her organization, Eniola’s Foundation, is the only one in the area that gives out specifically African food. When she first moved to the United States and received assistance from food banks, they didn’t have any of the cultural food that she was used to, she said.
Iruaregbon was inspired to fill the need and fulfill a promise that she made to her late mother.
“It was what my mom used to do back home in Africa,” she said. “She always gave out free food at her restaurant. She told me she wanted me to continue it.”
Iruaregbon first held a food giveaway last year and hopes to make it a quarterly event. However, she currently does not have any financial supporters and donates the food from her store. She hopes to eventually connect with a local food bank or nonprofit to support the event.
“I’m so excited to give back,” she said.
Eniola Africa Food Store is located at 1325 Derry St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit their Instagram page.
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