MOOSIC — When NativityMiguel School of Scranton Director of Advancement Luciana Musto decided to hold an event for the Catholic middle school, she searched for an accessible idea that could act as both fundraiser and introduction to the Northeastern Pennsylvania community. After she saw that Shawnee Mountain Ski Area drew 4,000 people with its food truck festival, Musto’s search was over.
“A lot of places like to do stuff like fundraising galas and things of that nature; we wanted to do something where anybody from the community would be able to afford to come,” Musto said. “People from the community who might be interested in sending their children here would be able to meet some of our students and meet people who work at the school and kind of get a sense of what we do.”
June 4’s NEPA Food Truck Festival runs from a noon to 5 p.m. at PNC field and features music from local acts Junk Drawer, Jung Bergo and Facing the Giants, along with food from a number of area food trucks. A $10 ticket is good for parking, admission to the festival and admission to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ 4:05 p.m. game against the Columbus Clippers.
Musto reached out to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders front office and the team’s Director of Community Relations, Rachel Mark, because she needed a bigger space for the festival than what the school, which opened in September could provide.
“To my knowledge it’s not something we’ve done in this area and definitely not the ballpark,” Mark said. “We’re located kind of in the middle of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, so we’re really accessible to people all over NEPA. We thought it’d be a good partnership to start.”
According to Musto, food trucks will offer special sampler platters, along with their own takes on the tradition of over-the-top food in ballparks.
Don Jones, owner of Scranton-based food truck Southwest Savory Grill, said he plans to serve frychos — frys and nachos with “everything on them.”
“I love a good food truck rally because it gives people who have never had a chance to visit a food truck the chance to do so,” Jones said. “Secondly, I admire this woman for doing what she’s doing. We all know that school funding is always going to be touchy, they need as much money as they can get.”
To purchase tickets to the festival, visit the PNC Field box office at 253 Montage Rd., Moosic, or call 570-969-2255.