Box by box, neighbors help neighbors in Butler County to feed the hungry.

This is showcased when the pantries converge on the county's food bank to pick up their monthly-allotted goods.

It's not uncommon for volunteers from other pantries to lend a hand at the county's chief distribution center for local pantries, according to Mike Ross, a 12-year volunteer with the Feed My Sheep Food Cupboard in Slippery Rock.

Ross recently was scheduled for a pickup to bring back to the northern Butler County food pantry, but also spent time assisting staff and volunteers loading food for a fellow pantry.

“We're the second truck, so we're standing around not doing much, so you help out,” Ross said of jumping in to help other pantries load their vehicles.

While volunteers helped stock his truck with the Feed My Sheep's monthly allotment of everything from canned goods to boxed meals, Ross walked back to the far corner of the warehouse, where other community-donated goods stand boxed and arranged to be picked up as needed.

Like so many other local food pantry volunteers, Ross is “shopping” because of the piecemeal manner of selecting items he knows will be important to those in need served by his pantry.

The corner contains accessory food items such as snacks, salad dressing and crackers. It also has nonfood items such as diapers, toiletries and paper products.

“This is just extra stuff, I try to get what helps the people,” Ross said as he picked through the items.

A little inspiration goes a long way

Barb Donegan was also “shopping” through the random donated items for a group of residents volunteering to make a difference. Donegan, who works as the site manager for Butler's Alameda Gardens, explains how a woman in need inspired the group to begin community dinners at the facility.

“I had a lady going door to door, and she was looking for bread,” Donegan said about what sparked individuals living at the senior living complex to rally together to help one of their neighbors in need.

From that moment, a group of women banded together to cook regularly held meals for residents such as turkey noodle soup and salad.

“A lot of seniors, they don't cook. This brings them together,” Donegan said. “It's rewarding, and they really need it and appreciate getting it.”

Beaver County volunteer Dennis Majors is another example of seeing a need and getting involved. A member of Portersville Alliance Church, the North Sewickley Township man has helped out the church's food pantry for the past year by picking up allotments from the food bank.

Majors said he sees his neighbors struggling. Being retired, he had time to volunteer.

“I'm a guy with a truck,” he said. “It's good to help people. It's the Christian way.”

Hands up

With the increase in food entering and exiting the food bank, Janine Kennedy, executive director of the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, said she is in need of more help.

“I am looking for folks who would want to volunteer here in the food warehouse,” she said.

She pointed at two men helping her load and unload trucks and said she needed more of them.

Michael Machay of Butler was loading boxes into vehicles.

“It helps me give back to the community,” he said. “It helps motivate me to be a better person. It makes me feel like a better person.”

His efforts also satisfy requirements through Davis Archway, a halfway house in Herman. “It shows me that there are other people out there struggling,” he said. “It's very humbling, and shows me where I'm at, and thankful for what I have.”

Kennedy said she wants to expand the number of steady volunteers she has at the warehouse.

Currently, she said many of the volunteers she has are professionals looking to make a difference. Companies often send a group of staff members to help at the warehouse.

Kennedy said to sustain the growth the food bank has seen, it will need as much help as it can get.

“We wouldn't exist. This wouldn't be here if it weren't for all of those food pantries and all of those volunteers who do this day-in and day-out,” she said.

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