Feed My Sheep
Lush green, bright red and orange, deep purple, pale green and other colors reinforce the abundance of late summer in Western Pennsylvania.
Fresh-picked corn, pumpkins, apples, cabbages, tomatoes, beans, peppers, onions and zucchini fill gardens, produce stands and home refrigerators — sometimes to the point of bursting.
“We cannot stand to see things go to waste,” said Chris Shaffer, owner of Jesteadt Greenhouse in Prospect.
About 10 years ago, Shaffer started calling food pantries to find a place that could use excess produce.
Portersville Food Pantry has received donations ever since. Now the greenhouse also donates to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Food Cupboard in Butler.
When the Shaffers donate, they try to send enough for every family. One year their bumper crop of cabbage went to several pantries.
On a recent Saturday, Lew Czzowitz, a volunteer for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Butler, received two bags of mixed produce that a family purchased from a local farm market.
He was grateful since the organization helps 25 to 50 families a day, Monday through Friday mornings. Each family can receive food there once a month. Produce donations vary depending on what is available.
“On Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon, from mid-July to the last Saturday in September, people can drop off produce at the school hall behind St. Michael the Archangel Church on Center Avenue,” said Czzowitz.
“It will start going to clients Monday morning,” said Czzowitz.
Czzowitz said people can also drop off produce during the week at the food cupboard or call to see if a pickup is possible.
To aid farm donations, Czzowitz sometimes has help from a local group of home-schooled children who donate time to pick vegetables.“People have been most generous to us,” said Czzowitz. “If it's edible, we take it.”“I've gotten rhubarb, beets, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and green beans. I hope to get more. It goes out as quickly as it comes in,” said Czzowitz. “Just last week we picked up four bushels of green beans.”“Race, color, creed and denomination don't matter to us,” said Czzowitz. “We feed everybody.”Butler's Salvation Army Open Door Feeding Program accepts garden donations, too.“The fresher the better. If there is an abundance left over, we let people take it home,” said Salvation Army Capt. Henry Thibault. “We freeze a lot of it, too.”“Twenty-five tomatoes can help a lot with sandwiches,” said Thibault. “Even a small amount is great. We work with anything.”A recent small donation of peppers and tomatoes ended up as salsa to serve with nachos on the program's lunch menu.The Salvation Army accepts donations from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its church, 313 W. Cunningham St. Occasionally it will pick up large donations.“We always welcome fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Linda Thoma, manager of Katie's Kitchen at St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Butler. Katie's Kitchen provides a free meal Thursday evenings for people in need. Trinity Lutheran Church in Butler co-sponsors the meal.“If we can use it for that night's meal, we use it,” said Thoma. “We also have a giveaway table every week so people can take extra bread and vegetables with them.”According to Esther Stahlman of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicora, the Petroleum Valley Food Cupboard also accepts produce for the third Friday of the month when the food cupboard provides food for up to 80 families and the residents of Chicora Commons.Holy Trinity is one of several churches supporting that food cupboard.Stahlman said, “People who are doing food drives or have produce can call Holy Trinity. We would contact Jeff Bly who manages the program and see that it gets to the food cupboard.”“We always have our food pantry the first Wednesday of the month,” said Cyndi Burns who works with the Portersville Food Pantry. “We try to store as much as we can.”“The participants love it,” said Burns. “We accept everything.”Produce there is packed into bags or, if there is less, participants choose from what is available.
John Bennetti of Butler used to give all the extra produce from his large home garden to his neighbors. About three years ago, he went beyond his own neighborhood.“There are only so many tomatoes the neighborhood could eat,” said Bennetti. “So I called St. Vincent de Paul. They always find a home for everything.”Bennetti, a lifelong gardener, now has two teenagers help him with his garden.Bennetti learned about gardening from his grandfather.“When people would come to visit, he loved to give them fruits and vegetables and things he had planted,” Bennetti said. “I can still see the smile on his face while he was sharing his labors with friends, relatives and others.”“There are hungry people out there,” said Bennetti. “Just pick out an organization that you like.”Thoma said churches that serve free meals are likely to accept produce donations.“We survive on donations,” said Thoma.“If anybody has an abundance where there is a food pantry, please call them,” said Burns. “They may be able to suggest a different pantry if they aren't going to be able to distribute the produce when it is fresh.”“We believe that if a person is wanting to donate, that's amazing. That's wonderful,” said Burns.Shaffer praised the volunteers that manage feeding programs in the area.“I don't think I'm doing anything special. I'm just trying to help out those in need,” said Shaffer. “This is my two cents' worth to help them make their work a little easier. I think they do a wonderful service for the community.”<B><I>Each day the Bulletin Board column of the Butler Eagle includes information about local community meal sites.</I></B>
Produce to People, a program of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, will bring two truckloads of fresh produce to Butler on Aug. 27, Sept. 24, Oct. 22, Nov. 19 and Dec. 17.On those days, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., people in need can take boxes or bags to the Butler City Farm Market, 205 Chestnut St., and receive free produce.“On average, we give out food to 500 families,” said Dave Miller of the Lighthouse Foundation. “It's a self-declaration of need. We don't ask for proof of income.”For more information about Butler County Produce to People, call Miller at 724-586-5554, Ext. 34, or send a message to davemiller@thelighthousefoundation.com.
