Faces of the Valley: Volunteer Janet Purdie helps grow BridgePoint Church in Tarentum

When the pandemic forced Janet Purdie’s layoff from her full-time job at Leeds in New Kensington, it was a sure bet she wasn’t going to sit around the house.

A seven-year parishioner at BridgePoint Church in Tarentum, Purdie ramped up her volunteer efforts at the site along East Ninth Avenue and helped launch a library, free food giveaway and Sunday children’s service.

“We’re a tightknit church, and everybody knows everybody,” said Purdie, who enjoys walking from her West Tarentum home several times a week to work at the building.

BridgePoint Church is at 400 E. Ninth Ave., just a few blocks from Highlands Elementary School.

The large red brick building sits on the corner of Corbet Street. It’s familiar to passersby for the large white pillars at its entrance.

On Wednesdays, you can find Purdie on the front steps doling out packaged meals to children who belong to the church and those around the neighborhood.

She calls out to kids on bikes or those walking down the street, “Are you hungry? Do you want some snacks to take with you?”

The grab-and-go meals are free for anyone up to 18 years old. Bags are filled with an entree, fruit, crackers and milk.

It is just one of the many programs Purdie works on to provide for area children.

Inside, a new children’s library opened in June and fills the basement social hall. The church received a $1,000 grant from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank that enabled leaders to purchase 80% of the children’s books from the now-closed Tarentum library.

A reading camp is offered from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays to coincide with the lunch giveaway.

Books are loaned on the honor system. They are aimed at children up to middle-school age, but there are plans for more geared at teens in the coming months.

“We have to have things for the kids,” Purdie said. “We want them to feel comfortable here.”

Of the church’s 30 active members, about one-third are children.

The Rev. Val Schubert said the church couldn’t survive without people like Purdie.

“She’s my right hand,” Schubert said.

On Sundays, Purdie rounds up children in the chapel after the welcoming songs are played, and she marches them downstairs for Bible lessons that are more relaxed.

“We have a story and crafts, all based on the sermon, but it’s a fun atmosphere,” she said.

The basement social hall is filled with basketball games, life-size chess and checkers, crafts and more.

She is planning a “pool day” for kids this summer with squirt guns and water balloons and is excited to launch a church in the park program July 24.

For four weeks, church leaders will preach from Riverview Memorial Park in Tarentum in hopes of drawing new people.

What Purdie enjoys most about the church is that it serves people from all walks of life.

“I really like everyone,” she said. “We see a need, and I think we help a lot of people.

“We’re little but mighty.”