Cupboard Space
Food and clothes.
Those two basic needs are among the social ministries that soon could be offered under one roof near Butler County's northeastern corner.
The Redevelopment Authority of Butler County has allocated a portion of a $500,000 federal grant to buy a building in that region of the county to house the Petroleum Valley Food Cupboard as well as a possible clothing pantry.
The food cupboard, operated by the Petroleum Valley Ministerium, has been around for more than two decades.
But a few years ago, the private owner of the house where the food cupboard was held needed the location for other purposes.
So for the past several years, the families served by the cupboard instead have been visiting the basement of Fairview United Methodist Church on Chestnut Street in Fairview.
"It's a wonderful place," said the Rev. James Higgins, pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Chicora and coordinator of the food cupboard program for the ministerium. "But we are crowded."
A new building would, for example, allow for more freezers and cold storage of meat and dairy products.
The cupboard program serves on a monthly basis about 70 families. That number, Higgins said, has been on a slow incline.
"People find themselves coming to the food bank for lots of different reasons," he said.
The cupboard's recipients range from seniors who need an extra hand when winter heating bills drain the budget to working parents whose dollars are not stretching as far as they once did.
The food bank serves residents of Fairview, Donegal and Parker townships as well as the boroughs of Chicora, Karns City, Petrolia, Fairview and Bruin.
"There has remained a constant need," said the Rev. Wade Berky, pastor at the host church in Fairview as well as Bruin United Methodist Church and Ridgeville United Methodist Church in North Washington.
The amount of food each family receives monthly is based on a state guideline.
"Generally speaking, recipients receive about 5 percent of the food they will need on a monthly basis," Berky said. "They get about three or four days worth of food."
The items they receive come from Butler County Community Action, the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank and donations from school and church food drives as well as cash donations.
"In 2008, we received $14,800 in (monetary) contributions," Higgins said. "But we spent $16,500."
Unlike many other food pantries, recipients here do not receive a prepackaged bag of groceries.
Instead, cupboard volunteers sort the food, then set up the items in a "grocery shopping" style environment. Each recipient selects from a variety of goods under categories like pasta, soups or canned vegetables.
Higgins said officials are considering a location in the Bruin area for the new facility, but they have no deadline to move.
Perry O'Malley, executive director of the Redevelopment Authority, said the Neighborhood Stabilization Grant comes from federal stimulus money. The money can be used to acquire vacant, blighted or foreclosed properties, targeting the northeastern portion of the county, including Petrolia, Karns City and Bruin.
Once a property is acquired with this money, the redevelopment authority will have three options for it: use it for a public purpose, demolish it or rehabilitate it for resale.In this case, the public purpose is a food pantry."There are an awful lot of people out there hurting in this economy," O'Malley said.Officials note that the funding targets the northern quadrant of the county because it traditionally has been a low- income area that does not often receive financial support.O'Malley said officials already are negotiating for a particular site.The hope is to acquire a building large enough to serve a regional food pantry. And, officials will contact other agencies to provide additional services at the same site.Higgins said the ministerium, which is made up of 10 churches of multiple denominations, would consider all sorts of programming once the new building is acquired."The social ministry opportunities could be much greater with a larger facility," Higgins said.Already, Berky said the 125 members of the Bruin United Methodist Church hope to establish a second pantry at the same site that would offer clothing to people in need at free or severely reduced prices."We have been contacted a number of times by people who need this type of service," Berky said. "There is nothing in this area that has this."To sign up as a food recipient or for more information, call Holy Trinity Church at 724-445-3574 on weekday mornings.
