Dear Friend,
As I read this issue of News from the Heart, one word keeps going through my mind: Gratitude.
I’m forever grateful for friends like you who support Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Without you, the work of helping to feed hungry neighbors facing hunger just wouldn’t get done. But thanks to you, people experiencing food insecurity are finding the help and hope that they need this holiday season.
I’m also grateful as I read the stories in this issue — stories of people who have been directly helped by your generosity, stories of those who will be able to put food on the table this holiday season and beyond. You’ve lightened the load for each of them, reducing some of the stress brought on by high grocery prices and other expenses.
As I sit down with my family this holiday, I will give thanks for you, for a community that cares so deeply about its neighbors, and for those families and individuals who are being helped.
I’ll take another look at the bright-eyed boy in the first story, and my heart will be full. Thank you for your kindness!
Gratefully,
Lisa Scales
President and CEO
Food is Love!
A little boy’s eyes brighten when he sees all the good things that will land on his family’s table this Thanksgiving.
A turkey. Stuffing and gravy. Sweet potatoes. Green beans. Fresh fruit. And heaping helpings of love.
All thanks to friends like you.
At Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, we believe that food is love … and we know that you do too. This Thanksgiving season, tens of thousands of neighbors will feel the love — your love — through special distributions that ensure families and individuals will enjoy a delicious holiday meal.
There’s never a good time for anyone to go hungry, but hunger feels even more acute during the holidays, when food is such an important part of the celebration. Your giving makes it possible for people to be filled with joy — and good food — on these special days.
On behalf of the Food Bank, and the neighbors whose burden was lightened this holiday season, thank you.
Because of you, thousands of neighbors will enjoy delicious holiday meals this year. Thank you!
They’re Grateful for You
No matter what happens this holiday season, Denise knows she’ll have Sweet Tea for Thanksgiving.
“Sweet Tea’s my cat,” says Denise, who rescued her feline friend from the streets. But Sweet Tea rescued Denise too: “She soothes me. It’s like God sent me something to love.”
Thanks to the kindness of friends like you, Denise, 65, will have much more than a kitty companion this Thanksgiving. She was thrilled to pick up a turkey at one of our holiday distributions.
“I’ve gone hungry before,” says Denise, a veteran of the Navy Reserve and the Air National Guard. So she’s grateful for your help: “I’d like to say thank you to everyone who gives.”
“I’m big on holidays”
Dimero picked up a number of things for his family of four, including his wife and two young sons.
He says Thanksgiving “is extremely important” in his household. “It’s a family thing. I’m big on holidays.”
“This food is a tremendous help,” he says. “With the cost of food and gas and everything else going up, it’s a little difficult sometimes, but you find a way to push through.”
“Family brings me here”
Kemeall can’t help but brag on her sweet potato pie, a recipe passed down from her grandmother. She says she hasn’t quite perfected it yet, but her family loves it.
She’s hosting 10–12 people for Thanksgiving and was thrilled to pick up some sweet potatoes — plus a whole lot more — for the big meal.
“Family brings me here today,” Kemeall says at the distribution. “Love and family.”
Kemeall wants you to know how thankful she is for your kindness.
“These distributions really help everyone out,” she says. “It’s not just poor people. Everybody needs help right now.”
Denise, Dimero and Kemeall are hardly alone in thanking you for your help. You’re putting food on so many tables this holiday!
The Best Thing You Can Give
Grover knows what it feels like to go hungry.
He was homeless once: “I experienced it all, many times,” he says. “To be hungry, to be cold, to be without, to not know what tomorrow’s going to bring. It’s disheartening.”
Now a retired schoolteacher, Grover is committed to helping others who are experiencing food insecurity by volunteering with the Food Bank.
He says volunteering gives him purpose.
“I’ve found that you might have nothing to give but your time,” he says. “Sometimes that’s the best thing that you can give.”
“The Food Bank is a wonderful place to be a part of. People come here from all walks of life, and they all have their own story. I feel like I am in a position now to let other people know that there is hope in this world.”
Your support is helping to spread that hope in our community. Thank you!