Shaler Rotary donation helps 6 food pantries replenish supplies

Bread of Life food pantry in Etna served more families in September than in each of the previous five months.

“Resources are becoming scarcer, unemployment is becoming more evident and benefits are running out for families,” food pantry manager Alexis Weber said of the covid-19 impacts on the program.

A $2,500 donation from Shaler Rotary came in the nick of time, Weber said, to restock the shelves and meet the needs of the community going into the fall.

The money was among six $2,500 grants doled out to local food programs by the Rotary, founded in 1952 and operating on the motto of “Service Above Self.”

“A pandemic doesn’t exactly spark connections between people but as a Rotary club, we did our best to do just that,” Rotary member Nuket Curran said.

“In these moments where our lives have been on hold, quarantined in our homes and separated from everything that has ever felt normal, we have to find those connections.”

Curran said local food programs have provided essential support, many not skipping a day since the pandemic began in spring.

Grants were awarded to:

• Christ Lutheran Church in Millvale;

• Anchorpoint Counseling Ministry in Ross;

• Bread of Life in Etna;

• Network of Hope in Allison Park;

• Elfinwild Meals Ministry in Glenshaw;

• North Hills Community Outreach in Allison Park.

Erica Cochran from North Hills Community Outreach said the group, which also has a branch in Millvale, has served 200 more families than usual in the past six months.

“Having the support of the Shaler Rotary has been crucial to ensuring that everyone in need is receiving food during this crisis,” Cochran said.

Dick Friedline from Elfinwild Meals Ministry said his group serves up to 400 meals a week to area senior citizens and credits dedicated volunteers for continuity during a time when covid-19 could have easily shut down operations at the Glenshaw church.

“We didn’t miss a day because of the pandemic,” he said. “We just wear masks now.”

Similar to Meals on Wheels, his ministry delivers a cold bagged lunch and a hot dinner each day across local municipalities.

“We rely on donations so everything that’s given to us helps, there’s no question,” Friedline said. “Without it, we’d have to raise our cost for the meals and we don’t want to do that.”

Weber said the Rotary donation helped replenish the Bread of Life shelves with staples such as jelly, mac and cheese, tuna, and soup.

“The Bread of Life never closed during this pandemic, and we are in constant need of food,” Weber said. “This donation was a blessing.”