Local schools given awards from Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Eight school districts and two community centers in Washington and Fayette counties have been given honors by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for their efforts in helping ensure children have enough to eat.
In Fayette County, the Connellsville, Southmoreland, Frazier and Uniontown school districts have been given Child Hero Hunger Awards from the food bank, as have the Avella, California, Ringgold and the Trinity school districts. Washington’s LeMoyne Community Center and the East End Community Center in Uniontown made the honors list, which were divided between gold, silver and bronze designations.
The schools were evaluated on such areas as providing weekend backpacks, school pantry programs, afterschool meals and more.
According to Kelsey Gross, the food bank’s director of child nutrition programs, “The Child Hunger Hero Award program is our thank you to food service professionals. We stand together alongside schools and other community partners that work tirelessly to ensure that kids have enough food.”
Patricia Robinson, program director at the LeMoyne Community Center, said the gold medal that the center received is “a blessing. It really, really is. … The mission is to make sure that the children have a healthy nutritious meal.”
There are several programs the center has launched to fulfill this mission, including a mini-market where children at the center can purchase produce, and grow their own food using hydroponic units.
“We don’t take it lightly,” Robinson said.
The East End Community Center received its gold medal for, among other things, its community food garden, food bank and master gardeners who have made weekly visits to teach students about gardening and growing vegetables and flowers.
“It is an actual community center,” said Terry Calloway Burden, its fundraising chair. “We’re able to provide more because it is a community center.”
According to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, 82% of the winning schools and community organizations provide food for children to take home for the weekend through a backpack program, 72% provide summer meals, and over half provide afterschool meals.
The food bank also notes that 1 in 5 children in the region live in a household that may struggle to afford food.
More information on the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is available at pittsburghfoodbank.org.