With just a few cans of food left on the YWCA’s food pantry
shelves, a delivery from two local schools was a welcome sight
Monday morning.
The students from School Street Elementary School gave 2,980
non-perishable food items. The students collected the items in just
two weeks – from Nov. 7 through 18.
Also, students from St. Bernard Elementary and Middle School
gave four boxes of food they’ve collected for about two weeks to
make sure others have a happy holiday.
“It means a lot. We’re pretty bare right now,” Kathy Masisak, a
case manager at the YWCA, said.
“We count on it every year, but you never know,” she said,
adding Monday’s delivery will sustain the pantry at least through
January.
The pantry is heavily used by the area’s needy, Masisak said.
They have distributed about 3,000 pounds of food a month and can
get up to 100 recipients a week.
“We make it work … somehow,” she said. They try to provide a
variety of food, including protein, vegetable, fruit and
cereal.
No one has every been turned away because they’ve had no food,
she said.
The people are limited to come once every 30 days and need to
verify their income.
“This is to supplement what they have,” Masisak said. “It’s not
an ends to all the means.”
The School Street project was started by custodian Gary
Woodmansee about six years ago.
“It was his idea to do something nice for the community and we
wanted to continue it,” School Street Principal Shelly Pugrant
said, adding Woodmansee has since retired.
Custodian Bob South has since taken the project under his wing.
As he stood by Monday morning supervising the delivery, he
deflected any attention from him to the students.
“It was all the kids,” he said. “They did all the counting … I
just oversaw what they were doing.”
South said it was good for the students to keep up the
tradition.
“I think it’s important for the kids to get involved in
community activities,” he said.
Kim Mooney, principal at St. Bernard’s, said the students there
raised money with “wild hair day” and “jeans day” when students
could pay 50 cents or bring a canned food item to either wear their
hair wild on Nov. 17 or wear jeans today.
They also will donate about $50 to the Nicolazzo family who lost
their home and business in Kane late last month.
“We’re trying to spread it throughout the community,” she
said.
The students in Carol Gingerich’s fifth-grade class at School
Street geared up for the project by reading “Making a
Difference.”
They explained the main character, Alex, had a clothing and food
drive.
The students also wrote and read announcements on the public
address system.
The students who donated the food – in grades three through five
– also held a contest. The class at each grade that donated the
most food will get a pizza party after Thanksgiving.
The YWCA’s food pantry is open from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on
Wednesdays.
In addition to the donations, the pantry receives money from the
county’s Housing and Urban Development program and the United Way
Community Initiative grant.
Even older students are getting in on the action.
The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Student Nursing
Organization is collecting food.
According to Robin Crosby, a nursing major from Emporium and
president of the organization, members wanted to collect food to
help supply the local food banks because it is likely that more
people will need assistance due to the increase in heating fuel and
gasoline.
“We wanted to do something to help,” Crosby added.
People are asked to bring in nonperishable food items to campus
and drop them off in the bins located in the Frame-Westerberg
Commons, the Campus Police building, Hanley Library and the Sport
and Fitness Center.
Organization members will gather and deliver the food to food
banks in Bradford and Kane in mid-December.
Tammy Haley, assistant professor of nursing, is the
organization’s faculty adviser.
