A grant to the Brackenridge Salvation Army from a Fox Chapel service organization will help put holiday meals on dozens of tables and distribute warm clothes to those in need, Captain Alex Senak said.
The Salvation Army along Brackenridge Avenue received $3,000 from the Rotary Club of Fox Chapel area. It was one of 11 groups to be awarded a total of $50,000 from the Rotary, which announced the grants last week.
“The money will go toward programs designed to alleviate struggles that community members may run into this time of year,” Senak said.
“The Fox Chapel Rotary has always supported the work of The Salvation Army, and we greatly appreciate them for that.”
Richard Wolf, grant committee chairman for the rotary, said the money was raised through member donations in honor of the club’s 50th anniversary. Typically, the largest fundraiser is the annual golf outing, but that was canceled because of the pandemic.
The Rotary’s motto is Service above Self.
In that spirit, grant recipients are nonprofit organizations that provide charitable and community services, Wolf said.
“As part of the selection process, we ask these organizations to explain their mission and to state how they would measure the benefits of the grant funds that they may receive,” he said.
Rotary members follow up with groups that receive money to see how it was spent.
“It has been inspiring to learn how well grantees have used funds to support people in need in our local community,” Wolf said.
At the Salvation Army Allegheny Valley Corps and Community Center, Senak said money will be used to provide holiday meals, emergency pantry items, warm clothes and toys for the holiday season.
The group has a Red Kettle goal of $130,000 this year to help with operations.
Some of the other groups to receive money from the Rotary include:
• $10,000 to Cooper-Siegel Community Library in Fox Chapel to install a permanent StoryWalk display at Aspinwall Fireman’s Memorial Park.
• $8,000 to Backpack for Hunger in the Fox Chapel Area School District to provide weekend food for children in need.
• $8,000 to St. Margaret’s Foundation to support its Bed Fund, which provides financial assistance and other services to patients.
• $7,500 to Fox Chapel Area Land Trust to help acquire land to connect existing trails.
• $5,000 to Volunteers of America in Sharpsburg for after-school programs and supplies.
• $3,000 to Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Indiana Township to support elder programs and food bank services.
“The Rotary Club was one of our earliest supporters who believed in our mission and helped the Backpack for Hunger program get started,” said Director Lisa Bowden.
“Their help literally allows us to the fill our bags with food for the children in the Fox Chapel Area District for the weekends and anytime that they are not in school and experience the most serious food insecurity.”
Bowden said the assistance isn’t only monetary.
“Rotary Club members also help us pack the food bags,” she said.”They truly make a difference in the lives of people in our community.”
Jill McConnell, executive director at Cooper-Siegel Community Library, said the Rotary donation helped establish a permanent StoryWalk in a nearby Aspinwall park where it is accessible to all Lower Valley residents. The stories are changed every three months.
“It encourages children and their families or caregivers to read a story together while walking through the park,” McConnell said. “We are especially grateful for this grant because it allowed us to expand our services beyond the walls of our buildings and reach some community members that might not be able to get to one of our libraries.”