Service Volunteers Continue Successful Food Drive
AmeriCorps service volunteers spent six hours at the Franklin Village Shop `n Save, as well as the Indiana Giant Eagle, Monday collecting non-perishable food and cash donations to benefit the Armstrong County Community Action Food Bank.
by Jonathan Weaver
Armstrong and Indiana County residents helped out families in need through food and monetary donations Monday.
During the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Food Drive held at the Franklin Village Mall Shop `n Save and the Indiana County Giant Eagle supermarkets Monday, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) Sara Beatty calculated that volunteers collected two cardboard boxes-worth of non-perishable food items and more than $220 in cash.
Beatty, who has helped at the Evergreen Conservancy and Crooked Creek Watershed Association since November 23, coordinated the food drives with Armstrong Conservation District AmeriCorps Katie Good.
“(The volunteers) did really well, even though it was super cold out,” Beatty said. “They were in good spirits, and if we asked them to do something, they got it done.”
Beatty said a warm attitude inspired area shoppers to donate to volunteers – who came from several AmeriCorps locations and high schools – throughout the morning and afternoon.
Beatty, of Home (Indiana County), spent the holiday morning at the Giant Eagle in Indiana. She said Indiana volunteers received many donations of instant meals and canned food.
“When I realized how cold it was, (the amount of donations) was about as many as I expected,” Beatty said.
Beatty was in 4-H during high school and graduated from Penn State Dubois with an Associate’s degree in Wildlife Technology. She volunteered as part of a food pantry in the college’s campus ministry.
Beatty hoped to be back in Armstrong County later this year to help with Crooked Creek Environmental Learning Center environmental education events in Bethel Township before the end of her one-year term.
Shop `n Save Owner Ron Olszewski’s daughter, Sharon Witchey, said the grocery store has allowed the food drive to take part at the Franklin Village Mall location for at least the past three years.
“They seem to want to come back every year, and we’re glad to have them back every year,” Witchey said.
Annually, the grocery store – which celebrated its 30th year in Kittanning in 2014 – also partners with and donates to the Kittanning Salvation Army and Grace Christian School’s food bank collection during the Christmas season.
The supermarket also allows groups to operate a hot dog wagon – with money directly donated to the nonprofit groups that operate it –10-12 weekends each summer.
Good has already transported the food collected at Shop `n Save to Armstrong County Community Action while Beatty plans to deliver the Giant Eagle donations today.
Last year, a total of about 30 volunteers – 20 at the Indiana Giant Eagle and 11 inside the Kittanning Shop `n Save – gathered about 170 food items and more than $250 for local food banks.
Local News | jweaver January 20, 2016
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