Dear Friend,
With the holiday season just around the corner, I can’t help but feel extra grateful for everything you’ve done for our neighbors experiencing hunger.
While many of us have returned to our normal lives, we’re all seeing soaring prices in the grocery store and at the gas pump. These surging costs create additional hardships for families facing hunger, and we’re seeing as much need for food now as we did during the peak of the pandemic. No one should ever face hunger, but it seems to hurt more during the holidays. This year, families will have an even tougher time.
But thanks to friends like you who support Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, families in southwestern Pennsylvania don’t have to worry about how they’ll put food on the table this holiday season — or any time of year!
Please read through this edition of News from the Heart and see the difference you’re making for neighbors in need. For families whose budgets are stretched beyond their limits.
Then, I hope you’ll consider giving a gift to help even more families. When every $1 helps provide enough food for 5 meals, you can make a big difference.
Sincerely,
Lisa A. Scales
President & CEO
Helping During the Holidays and All Year Long
When Laura’s troubled son considered putting his newborn daughter up for adoption, she and her husband stepped in — embarking upon parenthood for a second time. But, as a retiree and a disabled veteran, they often find themselves barely able to scrape by, let alone provide for a growing child.
The holidays are even harder for families like theirs.
“We’re on a very tight income,” she says. “And every little bit helps. We don’t get food stamps for her. We’re doing it all on our own. They say we make too much to get help. We don’t make anything. I was an EMT for years but then we got her and I had to retire because my husband can’t take care of a brand-new baby.”
Now that their granddaughter is in school, Laura and her husband are worried more than ever whether they’ll be able to give their growing girl the meals, clothes and school supplies she needs to learn and thrive. And extras like holiday gifts and meals are unthinkable.
But, thanks to the Lighthouse Foundation, Laura is finding support, enabling her to nourish and provide for her granddaughter.
“We simply wouldn’t make it without Lighthouse,” she says. “Thanks to school lunches, all we got to worry about is making sure she gets breakfast and send her with a snack,” she shares.
Laura playfully notes that her precocious granddaughter didn’t inherit the sweet tooth the rest of the family has, stating: “Given the choice between a cookie and an apple, she’ll take the apple. Now if only we could get Grandpa to eat that good!”
Because of caring friends like you, we’re able to help families like Laura’s and support programs that make a difference during the holidays and all year long. Thank you!
GivingTuesday is a global day of giving that unleashes the power of generosity. What started in 2012 as a simple idea to encourage people to do good has grown into a movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to donate, collaborate and celebrate giving.
We hope you’ll join the movement this year. Every act of generosity counts, and everyone has something to contribute toward building stronger communities and a better world. With the soaring costs of food, gas and household goods, families facing hunger need this more than ever.
When you give to Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for GivingTuesday, your gift helps provide the nourishing food that children, families and seniors in our neighborhoods need to grow and thrive.
You don’t have to wait for GivingTuesday to give! You can donate today by visiting pittsburghfoodbank.org/givingtuesday
Giving Now to Feed the Future
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank welcomes charitable contributions of all kinds — including smart, noncash contributions — to help provide food to children, seniors and families facing hunger.
Your smart gift can come through your IRA, appreciated stocks or mutual funds, a donor-advised fund, a life insurance policy, or be included in your living will or trust. These gifts help southwestern Pennsylvanians both today and far into the future, while providing potential tax savings for you as well.
“When my husband was alive, we both thought that helping people keep food on the table was so important,” says Martha, who has been a Food Bank donor for almost 30 years. She and her late husband, Phillip, have given many ways over the years, including donations of appreciated stock and retirement assets.
“It’s just so easy to do. It makes it a lot easier if you don’t have to tap into your cash, to be able to give appreciated stock and from your IRA,” she says.
In addition to her generous lifetime contributions, Martha also made a legacy gift by naming the Food Bank, and a number of other charities, as a beneficiary of her IRA. After her lifetime, the Food Bank will receive a specific percentage of the remainder of her IRA instead of it going into her estate to be taxed at a higher rate.
“Part of it is I have more than I need,” she explains. “And then there are other people that need things desperately — and food is one of those things.”
“I’ve continued to contribute because [the Food Bank] continues to expand programs to meet the needs of more people. You know when they’re changing their programs or expanding or reaching more people, that they’re alive and well.”
While so many neighbors navigate challenging circumstances, having reliable access to nutritious food is one thing they won’t have to worry about, thanks to the generosity of friends like Martha.
To learn more about how you can make smart gifts or feed the future, please contact Liz McFarlin-Marciak, Director of Major & Planned Giving, at 412.745.0534 or [email protected] to learn more.
A Holiday Gift
Ken is barely getting by working part-time maintenance jobs while on disability. His wife, Peggy, is struggling to find cashier work after leaving the workforce to care for her aging parents, who have since passed on. Some months, they barely make ends meet.
“I’m a diabetic, so I have nerve damage in my legs,” says Peggy, a West Smithfield resident all her life. “So I can’t stand for more than five hours a day. And they want you on your feet longer than that.”
Without much income, the couple relies on places like Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to ensure they are able to put food on the table. When the holidays rolled around, Ken and Peggy came to the Food Bank hoping to find what they’d need for a Thanksgiving dinner.
“We can’t afford a big turkey,” Ken says. “We don’t have enough money. My mother taught me a long time ago that every dime helps, but it’s not enough this time. You got to eat. You got to survive. Without the Food Bank, we wouldn’t have Thanksgiving.”
Thankfully, the Food Bank had everything they needed — turkeys, stuffing, gravy and cranberries — to ensure Ken and Peggy had a joyous holiday, knowing their neighbors care.
“This meal means, excuse my French, a hell of a lot,” Ken says. “Thank you and bless you. If it wasn’t for the Food Bank, we’d have nothing.”
Your continued support helps fill the holiday season with hope and joy — and the foods that make this time of year special. Thank you!