A food bank which serves over 200 nonprofits in the Greater Lehigh Valley has pledged to minimize disruptions after a small fire overnight Wednesday.

Smoke damage from the fire has caused Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley to delay some upcoming deliveries.

One local group, Panther Valley Food Pantry, had to cancel their upcoming food distribution because of delays from the fire.

The fire was discovered after 2 a.m. Wednesday. It appeared to originate in an industrial-sized battery which was donated to the nonprofit, according to Executive Director Alan Jennings.

“The fire started in that, and it was enough to kick up a lot of smoke, but not any damage to the building at all,” he said.

Area fire companies responded to the warehouse in East Allen Township. They included East Allen, Northampton and Hecktown.

Jennings said they are working with insurance to figure out when they can resume operations. The food loss hasn’t been quantified, but Jennings did learn from state officials that he must dispose of a large amount of grapes which were being stored in the area where the fire took place.

“We had six or eight pallets of grapes. Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture says we have to toss them, which totally breaks my heart,” he said.

Panther Valley Food Pantry was scheduled to receive a delivery Thursday morning in anticipation of their monthly food distribution on Friday. As of now, Panther Valley Food Pantry will hold its next distribution in late September.

Panther Valley Food Pantry Director David Harmadi said that the pantry simply doesn’t have enough to hold its monthly distribution. There has been such a demand for food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes the situation even harder.

“With everything else going on with COVID and going back to school, so many question marks with people dealing with hunger issues,” Harmadi said.

Harmadi said there are other Carbon County food pantries that receive distributions from Second Harvest. As of Wednesday evening no other local pantries had canceled their distribution.

Jennings founded the food bank in 1982, at which time it was called Lehigh Valley Food Bank. He said at the time, his goal was to never turn anyone away due to a lack of supply. He said he isn’t about to give up due to the fire.

“We’re gonna make sure food gets to people who need it. We’ll figure it out,” Jennings said.