Dear Friend,
In schools all over southwestern Pennsylvania, children are getting excited — summer is almost here! Vacation! Pools! Picnics and barbecues! And no more school until fall!
Yes, summer vacation is almost here … but not everyone is excited. Right now, thousands of parents are starting to worry. Summer means that children who depend on free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch at school no longer have access to those meals. How will parents provide enough food for their children for the next three months, especially on top of extra child care costs?
That’s why, in this issue of News from the Heart, we’re focusing on children, how Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is addressing summer hunger — and how people like you are the real heroes in these stories.
Of course, food insecurity affects more than just children in our communities. Hunger is a year-round issue for many of our neighbors. And last year, the Food Bank provided more than 48 million meals across the 11 counties we serve — the highest in its 40-year history!
That’s why I’m so grateful for caring and generous friends like you. Thanks to you, families that are food insecure have hope.
As always, every $1 you give can help provide 3 meals. Thank you!
Lisa A. Scales
President and CEO
Serving Up Summer Meals for Kids
A growing number of families in southwestern Pennsylvania struggle to make ends meet, and 1 in 6 kids are facing food insecurity.
Jordain and her husband live in the Shannock Valley area, where they are raising their 5-year-old daughter. Summers are often especially challenging. While Jordain’s husband works, during the summer Jordain stays at home and takes care of her grandmother during the day.
Although the Armstrong School District provides free meals for all students during the school year (about 102,000 meals a year), the summer months are a different story. For the past two summers, however, Jordain has been able to provide her daughter healthy, grab-and-go meals through their local Summer Youth Café.
The Youth Café is a federally funded child nutrition program that partners with Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to provide free, healthy breakfasts and lunches — plus a lot more — to school-age children 18 and under while schools are on summer break. There are currently 150 Summer Youth Café sites throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.
“We really strive to ensure Summer Youth Café sites feel like fun,” says Kelsey Gross of the Food Bank. “Kids are often coming to our sites and doing fun things while they’re there.”
Jordain says that having easy, grab-and-go meals on hand for her daughter is really helpful. “She’s a very picky eater, but she absolutely loves these,” Jordain says. “There are a variety of choices, and she eats everything she gets.”
Because of you, families like Jordain’s are getting the help they need, especially while school is out. Thank you!
“We Really Appreciate the Extra Help”
Poverty, unemployment and the continued high cost of food have left thousands of families in southwestern Pennsylvania — especially families with children — struggling to put healthy meals on the table. Gary’s family is one of them.
For years, Gary worked as a welding contractor, but he can no longer work due to a heart condition and arthritis. His wife is also unable to work because of COPD. Now, the two of them are raising their 6-year-old grandson, Levi.
“Considering the high price for food now, food stamps don’t go very far,” Gary says. For the past year or so, Gary and his wife have been coming to Grace Presbyterian Church Food Pantry. “We really appreciate the extra help,” he says. “I guess that sums it up!”
Thank you for helping families like Gary’s! Your support helps provide nourishing food for neighbors of all ages.
When School Lets Out, Children in Need Count on You
For families living paycheck to paycheck in southwestern Pennsylvania, it’s often a challenge to put food on the table. But summertime hits particularly hard. Summer break means the end of free or reduced-price school breakfast and lunch. On top of that, day care costs can be an additional expense.
Summer is a time of stress for so many parents. Instead of planning vacations or signing their children up for summer sports, parents are busy saving every last penny. Often, it’s still not enough.
Thanks to your compassionate support, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank provides critical programs that help children who are food insecure and their families get the nutrition they need to thrive during the summer and throughout the year.
Summer Youth Café
Summer Youth Cafés, located throughout southwestern Pennsylvania, provide healthy meals to children while schools are on summer break. Sites are open to anyone 18 years of age and younger.
Child and Adult Care Food Program
This federally funded program, along with your support, offers nutritious meals and snacks to eligible children in after-school programs at 23 sites in Allegheny County.
School Year Programs
Nearly 80,000 children in our service area go to bed worried about their next meal. Caring friends like you enable the Food Bank to partner with schools and community organizations to ensure that every young person has enough nutritious food so they can learn, grow and thrive.
Your continued support keeps families and kids fed this summer and all year. We couldn’t be more grateful!
Volunteer Spotlight: Debe
“I call it a grace-of-God thing,” says Debe about how she first got connected to Grace Presbyterian Church Food Pantry in Kittanning 16 years ago.
As a single mother of five, she often worked two or three jobs at a time to provide for her family. By the “grace of God,” she accepted a temp job directly across the street from Grace Presbyterian Church.
“I kept seeing all this traffic coming and going,” Debe recalls. “One day, I went to see what was going on and discovered there was a food pantry.”
Someone who knew she was a struggling single parent told her she should get some food for her kids, which she did. She was so grateful for the help, she started volunteering — and has continued every month to this day. Now, as a grandmother of 11, she continues to rely on the pantry for extra food for her family and also delivers food to others in her community.
“I’m usually in charge of the frozen foods at the pantry,” Debe says. “I also help pack boxes with dry foods. I love doing this. I really do.
“I always tell people who donate, thank you for remembering people who are less fortunate and struggling to get by,” she adds. “Donors could give anywhere, but it means a lot that they haven’t forgotten us.”
When you volunteer with us, you make a profound difference for our neighbors in need. Find out more about volunteering.