Volunteers in Sewickley area stock 5 mini food pantries
A group of volunteers in the Sewickley area have come together to make sure people have exactly what they need as temperatures drop and a growing number of people grapple with difficulties brought on by the covid-19 pandemic.
Anyone can go to the Free Mini Food Pantries — installed by Sewickley Valley YMCA — that are stocked full of essentials: food, winter clothing and hygienic items.
The pantries were installed Wednesday at Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire Department, 190 Ambridge Ave.; Leetsdale Volunteer Fire Department, 515 Beaver St.; and Pathway Church, 1234 Division Ave. in Crescent.
Two others are planned for after Thanksgiving. Those will be located at the Laughlin Memorial Library in Ambridge and Chadwick Street Park in Sewickley.
“We’re encouraging people to take what you need and leave what you can — and so it’s available to everyone,” said Amy Richardson, director of development and communications at the Sewickley Valley YMCA.
The idea sparked in May when the Sewickley Valley YMCA partnered with Gather Sewickley, a home goods store, to create Main Street Meals. The program involved volunteers who would pack and deliver food boxes weekly to families during the colored restriction phases of covid-19 in Allegheny County, Richardson said.
Then, in July, the YMCA partnered with volunteers from Leetsdale to form QV Food Relief, a similar effort done on a bi-weekly basis.
“We quickly realized that many adults and families needed help but were not asking for one reason or another,” Richardson said. “It can be challenging for someone to ask for help. So many people are victims of a covid-19 crisis and need a little extra support. The Free Mini Food Pantries are another way that the Y can help remove barriers to accessing nutritious food.”
The food available at the mini pantries includes nonperishable foods such as pasta, pasta sauce, peanut butter, jellies, grains and rice, beans, dried fruit and other snacks. They also will contain personal care items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, feminine products, hats, gloves or socks.
To make a donation, drop off the items in boxes located on the front porch of the main entrance of the Sewickley Valley YMCA, 625 Blackburn Road. Richardson encouraged those donating to not drop off foods stored in glass jars or containers.
“No gift is too small,” she said. “A single can of green beans or a tube of Chapstick can help.”
The mini pantries themselves are sizable, resembling an overhead cabinet found in a kitchen. The blueprints for them are found online through Little Free Pantry, a global movement based off the Little Free Library concept.
Brennan Hydzik, 42, of Glen Osborne said he heard about the YMCA’s desire to find a way to get food to people in a way that removes the reservations in asking for help. When he discovered the YMCA was considering the mini food pantry idea, he jumped on it.
Hydzik, an application project manager by trade, built the five pantries in his home shop. He didn’t charge for the work.
He also serves on the board for the Sewickley Valley Community Fund, a nonprofit that provides matching grants to groups in the Sewickley area. The organization donated $1,000 to the Y’s Free Mini Food Pantry project.
“Personally, I’ve been looking for activities to contribute and give back. My life is pretty comfortable, so I just wanted to be able to contribute,” he said.
After he put them together, Hydzik organized dates for local youth from Sewickley Presbyterian Church and Glen Oaks Girl Scouts from Troop 28818 to paint and decorate the wooden pantries.
Volunteers from the Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire Department, QV Food Relief and members of Pathway Church in Moon will help manage the pantries.
“They are truly a community collaboration,” Richardson said.
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