Thanks to the generosity of a Palmerton business, a large contingent of Lehigh Valley Health Network colleagues were able to enjoy meals at a discounted rate.

The meals were provided by Papa Al’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria to all ExpressCARE colleagues. It also included hospital-based colleagues supporting the services of ExpressCARE such as central registration clerks and diagnostic X-ray techs at their Health Center locations.

ExpressCARE locations included Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and Pocono regions.

“We were so touched by the generosity of Papa Al’s,” said Jenny Plank, site manager, ExpressCARE. “It meant the world to our colleagues too, who continue to do everything they can to take care of our community, every day of the year, and especially, during this unprecedented season of illness.”

Sam Caban, who manages Papa Al’s, said they started at 5 a.m. Dec. 23.

Caban said they donated 120 meals to the Palmerton community, and also made 162 meals at a discounted price for Lehigh Valley Health Network.

She said her dad, Al, owner of Papa Al’s, along with she and Manny Alvarado, who serve as managers, wanted to “give back to the community we have received such great help from for the past eight years.”

“If it weren’t for our community, we wouldn’t be where we are today; we are thriving,” Caban said. These people were so surprised, they said ‘what an amazing thing’.

“We just wanted to do that, and on top of that we gave free desert (cannolis) the following day. We like to give back this time of year; we are so big on donating and sponsoring, and if it weren’t for Palmerton and the surrounding communities, we would not be where we are at.”

Caban said they began as a food truck on Little Gap Road, before moving to Lehigh Street, and now being situated on Delaware Avenue.

“We just sit back and think how far we’ve come,” she said.

Caban said the business would like to thank Palmerton and the surrounding communities for their patronage.

“We feel that it is very important to give back to the community, and we will continue to give back to our community just because how great they are to us,” she said.