Backed By Rockefeller Grants Philabundance’s Non-Profit Supermarket Is Making Inroads in Food Deserts
On the wall in Mike Basher’s office at Chester’s Fare & Square, there’s a piece of paper noting the days that Ramadan falls on in 2017; the days are highlighted in pink. It jumps out pretty quickly, because a lot of the other stuff on the wall betrays a pretty Christian leaning, including a Carson Wentz tweet about God. Ramadan is actually one of the first things on Basher’s mind; right after his interview, he has to take a call from Furrukh, a Muslim member of the Philabundance board, about making sure that the store is well-appointed for the end of the fast.
It all impresses as remarkably aware for a budget grocery store on the edge of Chester, a quarter mile off of I-95 and flanked by a Family Dollar and a long-shuttered southern kitchen. Basher says that’s exactly the point. . .