Dec 23, 2020 5 min read

Officials at the Greater Washington County Food Bank are defending their decision to cut the number of local food pantries in operation, but said the loss of $280,000 from the county commissioners will be another hurdle to overcome during the pandemic.

“During a year where Greater Washington County Food Bank has reached unprecedented levels of food distribution around the communities of Washington County, the food bank now has another set of obstacles to overcome,” according to a statement from the food bank. “In its 35-year history, Greater Washington County Food Bank has faced its fair share of times where food insecurity has risen, but nothing quite like COVID-19.”

The response from the food bank comes less than a week after Washington County Commissioners Diana Irey Vaughan and Nick Sherman voted to reallocate $280,000 in state and federal funding to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for it to offer some services in the county. Commissioner Larry Maggi voted against the move and said Tuesday he had no idea the change was even being considered until seeing it on the agenda before last week’s meeting.

Irey Vaughan and Sherman said they decided to move the money after hearing complaints from people in January about the restructuring of neighborhood pantries that would ultimately eliminate 14 of them, leaving just nine operating. Both said they met in February with Connie Burd, the food bank’s executive director, to raise concerns about the changes and asked them to reconsider. Food bank officials previously said they wished the commissioners had shared the names of people who raised concerns, although Irey Vaughan said they allowed Burd to view at least one of the letters they had received.

“They absolutely were informed,” Irey Vaughan said Tuesday. “She absolutely knew what was going on.”

Irey Vaughan said she thought it was the wrong decision to eliminate the number of local pantries during the pandemic when people need easy access to food in their neighborhoods. She said the Greater Pittsburgh food bank will use all the money to distribute food to residents in Washington County, and added that the new partnership has already allowed them to reopen one pantry in Meadow Lands.

“This was a very difficult thing to do,” Irey Vaughan said of cutting the food bank’s funding. “But we had an outcry from individuals in the communities.”

Maggi is skeptical whether a food bank from another county will be able to offer enough support to the area.

“I’ve not gotten complaints, or any feedback about it – there are always complaints about everything – but I never realized it was such an issue,” Maggi said. “I don’t see the logic of how that can happen. We have had a food bank for years and people have supported it for years.”

He said the elimination of some pantries allowed for distribution hubs that allowed contactless delivery of food from “truck to trunk” during the pandemic.

“Right now, we’re in a pandemic, and to make a change in a pandemic – people are hungry, they need food – it’s something we should look at later,” Maggi said.

The food bank’s officials said in a press release that they were proud of their initiatives and distributed three times as much food as typical during the pandemic.

“Certainly, COVID-19 has made for a strange, unique year for many,” their statement read. “With daily adjustments to safety regulations, Greater Washington County Food Bank is proud of the quick innovations made out of necessity to ensure the safety of food bank clients, staff, and volunteers.”

But Sherman said he and Irey Vaughan have been concerned about the changes for months and asked Burd to reopen the closed pantries. When asked if he thinks the food bank needs new leadership, Sherman paused for a few seconds before saying there needs to be some changes made without elaborating on what.

“There needs to be a change, and I’m not sure what change needs to be made,” he said.

The food bank is managed by its own board of directors and operates independently of the commissioners, but the loss of the $280,000 could be an indication that some of the commissioners want to see changes made.

Burd said Monday that she was disappointed with the decision to cut the food bank’s funding, but that it would not stop the agency from providing services.

“The county commissioners have every right and obligation to allocate the monies as they beset see fit for the county and the clients. We will continue to operate services as usual providing for the clients in Washington County the best way we can.”

The board said the food bank would continue to serve Washington County residents in need, but they would be holding a transition meeting with Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in coming weeks.

“We will continue serving our clients to fight the battle of food insecurity, and we appreciate all past and future support of Washington County’s premier food support organization,” the board said in a statement.