Desiree LaMarr-Murphy’s feeding hungry families gains the attention of Dr. Oz, Rachel Ray, and more

Desiree' LaMarr-Murphy pauses outside what she calls her she-shed, where she stores equipment for the food pantry on her property in Upper Darby.

Desiree’ LaMarr-Murphy is an alumnus of Overbrook High School.

Desiree’ LaMarr-Murphy grew up without enough food.

Back in the mid-1980s, school days were the hardest, when she’d sit without lunch in the cafeteria of the former William B. Mann Elementary School (now Mastery Charter Mann Elementary) in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia, watching other kids eat.

Years later, after life improved a bit, an apartment fire left her and her children temporarily homeless and dependent on church-donated food that was lovingly bestowed but spoiled and inedible.

The food-less lunch periods and the after-fire charity forged LaMarr-Murphy, now 43, into an unparalleled hunger fighter. Trained as a special-ed teacher and now a special-needs coordinator for the School District of Philadelphia, LaMarr-Murphy promised herself two things: to never again suffer hunger, and to help feed children and their families by creating food pantries in schools and other locations throughout the region.

And now, during the pandemic, she’s distinguished herself as perhaps the only person in the Philadelphia area who runs a food pantry out of her own home. LaMarr-Murphy created the network of food donors for the pantry herself, and stores some of the supplies in the 550-square-foot building she calls her “she-shed” in her Upper Darby backyard.

Read the rest of the articles on Desiree’s amazing work and philanthropy here: https://www.inquirer.com/news/hunger-upper-darby-philadelphia-covid-19-philabundance-food-insecurity-20210211.html

and here: https://www.inquirer.com/news/dr-oz-upper-darby-food-pantry-hunger-poverty-pandemic-20210302.html.