The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (GPCFB), which serves 11 counties, including Armstrong County, has received notification of a grant totaling $1,039,517.
The funding is through the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP), to promote community participation and collaborations among nonprofits, businesses, and residents while producing outcomes that assist a distressed area or the low-income population in a neighborhood.
“The meal gap represents the meals missing from the homes of families and individuals struggling to put food on the table,” their grant application stated. “Household food budgets fall too short to secure adequate, nutritious food year-round.”
According to Feeding America’s May 2018 release of Map the Meal Gap, there are more than 318,530 individuals in the Food Bank’s 11-county service area who experience food insecurity. For those people, there was a household budget shortfall in 2016 equivalent to 54 million meals needed to meet their food needs. The Food Bank addresses the meal gap by providing meals to families who may not have the budget to provide for themselves.
The food banks in Armstrong County are headed up by the Community Action Agency. According to Lisa Copenhaver, Community Action Family Services Food Bank Director, most of the food that is provided by area food banks comes from the GPCFB to feed nearly 1,000 families each month in Armstrong County.
“We also get free produce from GPCFB,” Copenhaver explained. “If stores have overstock of hamburger, pulled pork, milk, or eggs (for example), we get that through GPCFB at no cost to us.”
GPCFB Chief Development Officer Charla Irwin-Buncher said food from local, regional and national retailers, farms and manufacturers and purchases directly from wholesalers are then provided to Community Action.
“We partner with Community Action to receive food into Armstrong County,” Irwin-Buncher said. We are able to supply food at a much lesser rate than if they went to another company. At times, we may charge a slight transportation fee if we are (for instance) bringing truckloads of potatoes from Idaho to Pittsburgh. Then costs that amount to less than 14 cents per pound may be assessed.”
The GPCFB intends to raise $12.4 million dollars from private contributions to operate next year.
“This is actual money,” Irwin-Buncher said. “The two largest sources of donations are individuals and foundations. We also receive corporate support and organizational support, through our national affiliation with Feeding America. A NAP tax credit incentivizes food donors to make donations.”
Copenhaver said that the local program in Armstrong County is supplemented also by the generosity of the community.
“We sent letters out to purchase turkey vouchers to include in the November food bank recipients,” Copenhaver explained. “We do not always get enough to supply every family unfortunately. But this year, we had an outpouring from various businesses. Villa Rosa Restaurant in Kittanning put out a tip jar and raised $600 for the turkey fund from their customers. We had enough money this year to not only purchase turkey vouchers for everyone for Thanksgiving, but also to give them a second voucher they could use for Christmas.”
For more information of local distribution of food through food bank locations in Armstrong County, contact the Community Action Agency at 724-548-3408.