Fox Chapel church hoping to 'Fill the Truck' for food pantries in Indiana Township, Sharpsburg and Etna

On Super Bowl Sunday, football won’t be center stage for everyone.

Volunteers at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church are scheduled to host the 8th annual Fill the Truck fundraiser through which several hundred food and nonperishable items are collected for hungry neighbors.

“It is a great event for the community,” Deacon Cindy Frohlich said. “Volunteers range in ages from grade school to senior citizens.”

Donations will be accepted from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the church parking lot along Field Club Road.

Items will be split among Bread of Life in Etna, St. Vincent de Paul in Sharpsburg and the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Indiana Township (COTRAIC).

The Singing Winds food bank at COTRAIC is operated in conjunction with the Elders Program but is available to people of all ages. Pickups are once a month at 120 Charles St., off Saxonburg Boulevard. The site also provides clothes.

In Sharpsburg, the St. Vincent de Paul pantry is run from the basement of St. Mary Church along Garnier Street.

Founded in 1954, it serves about 150 families a month — that means about 300 people who get enough food to supplement their monthly grocery budget with a box full of shelf-stable items.

Despite sometimes frigid temperatures, the Fill the Truck event has become a much-anticipated tradition for people who are well aware that food bank supplies dip after the holidays.

“The shelves tend to get particularly low this time of year,” Deacon John Musgrave said. “It is estimated that 14% of children in Allegheny County are ‘food insecure,’ meaning that these children are unsure where their next meal will come from.”

Musgrave cited other statistics that reveal 21% of county residents are served at food pantries; of those, 26% are senior citizens and 27% are military veterans.

In recent years, the Fill the Truck campaign has been successful — even through the pandemic, Musgrave said.

“Last year, we were able to completely fill a 10-foot truck and a couple of cars,” he said. “The packing room in the small chapel was quite cool because the doors were left wide open for ventilation due to covid, yet the volunteers persevered with their coats on.

“We had a nice mix of ages for the volunteers, including children and high school students.”

Donations are sought from people across the region.

Items most needed include boxed dinners, pancake and muffin mix, syrup, pasta, rice, pasta sauce, peanut butter, jelly, tuna, canned salmon and chicken, cake and brownie mixes, salad dressing, condiments, canned fruits and veggies, cooking oil, diapers, paper towels, toilet paper and tissues.

Toiletries and pet food are also sought.

Frohlich said the fundraiser appears to grow each year and that church organizers are appreciative of people who travel from neighboring communities to donate.

“Especially last year during the pandemic, we never thought we could fill all the vehicles to overflowing,” she said.