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Food bank struggles to provide services sans state funding
“If not for Consol Energy’s fundraising drive for the food bank and grants from Representative (Bill) DeWeese there is no way this food bank would still be open,” Caldwell said, noting that to date, the food bank has received no state funding for 2010.
She said the food bank has not seen a penny of the $19,000 it normally receives for the state. “It is only because of Consol that everybody got a turkey,” she said.
Caldwell said there was no way she could have pulled off that feat without Consol’s second annual community drive for the food bank. The amount money collected from individuals and organizations for 2009 is down from 2008, but Caldwell said she remains hopeful donations will continue to trickle in during the holidays.
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Caldwell said that the agency is seeing more families with two incomes that are just not high enough to sustain the household.
“All of a sudden grandma and grandpa are having the family move back in with them. It is difficult and I don’t think the economy is getting better. I think it is far from over. It is very frustrating. You wonder where it is all going to end up,” she said. “Some try to ward it (seeking help) all year but they finally say at the holidays that they really do need it.”
Caldwell’s belief is that many families don’t come to the food bank because they believe they are earning too much income, but the guidelines are not the same as what public assistance uses for its food stamp program.
“I find that 99 percent of the time they do qualify. The guidelines are higher than you’d think and you would be surprised at how much income still allows you to qualify for help. A family of four can make up to $33,075 and qualify for the food bank,” Caldwell said.
During a recent Produce to the People event held at the Greene County Fairgrounds, Caldwell said she saw an example of someone who needed the help. There was an elderly woman in the parking lot who seemed to be lost and when a food bank staff member asked her if she was there for the Produce to the People program she told her that she thought she made too much.
Not only could the woman receive the Produce to the People but she also qualified for food bank assistance.
“She makes $700 a month, that’s all. When we told her she could get a turkey she started crying and said that is why she came in there. That was all she really wanted, a turkey for her family for Thanksgiving,” Caldwell said. “That’s why I do what I do.”
Ted Yanak of Consol, a new member of the food bank board of directors, witnessed the good his company is doing when he joined Caldwell at the Produce for the People in November.
“It was overwhelming, it truly was. It definitely opened my eyes. It was both touching and sad at the same time and it makes you want to do more,” Yanak said. “It is scary what people are going through.”
Yanak said he is proud to be a part of the effort behind the scenes with Consol and as a board member. But he questioned if Consol’s contribution once a year going to be enough.
Caldwell said the food bank serves 1,050 families in Greene County monthly and more than over 1,200 during November and December.
Caldwell’s goal is to provide as much help as possible to families throughout Greene County.
Currently, there are three Produce to the People events each month with a fourth in the works.
The first is held at the Greene County Fairgrounds on the fourth Thursday of the month. The second is held at the Aleppo Grange on the second Thursday and the third is held at the Greene Valley Church of God on the third Friday.
Mt. Morris is the next area being considered for a Produce to the People.
“People are out of work and need food through no fault of their own. It is a blessing to us to be able to have the Produce to People at our church,” said Linda Wirth of the Greene Valley Church of God. “We don’t have the ability to collect this much food or to buy it but everybody’s welcome.”
Donations for the food bank can be dropped off round the clock at the Consol building at 1125 E. Roy Furman Highway in Waynesburg across from the Greene County Airport.
For more information on how to apply for food bank assistance, call the Corner Cupboard Food Bank at 724-627-9784.
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