How the Lighthouse Foundation embraces the demands of summer food distributions
For Joe Franciscus and his team at the Lighthouse Foundation, the year-round grind never stops.
Housed in a reimagined elementary school in Middlesex Township, the Christian-based food pantry serves as a lifeline for hundreds of families in need of critical assistance.
That includes the “dog days” of summer, when the pantry takes on a unique set of challenges that come with rising temperatures and more people being off work and school.
“We’re averaging around 60 to 70 orders per day still throughout the summer,” said Franciscus, the food pantry’s director. “The distribution days definitely seem a little bit busier too because we have a lot of kids and families come through with the kids being off school.”
While the organization is mostly stocked through the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, it supplements the offerings through traditional pickups at retail stores around the area.
Donations are also a primary resource, although, those can be more scarce throughout the summer.
“Specifically, with people dropping off donations to our facility, that is lower during the summer,” Franciscus said. “But we’re expecting it to pick back up here after this time period and going into the next holiday season.”
In the early morning hours of any given week, a half dozen delivery drivers fetch the orders and return them to the facility.
Once the goods arrive, another team of volunteers quickly unloads and carefully arranges them on shelves inside what was once a bustling gymnasium.
From there, another large group of volunteers assume their posts to help clients secure what they need.
Some of those contributors, like Bonnie Hemphill, of Buffalo Township, have a hand in mostly everything, whether that’s off-loading, stocking or distributing.
“I’ve just been working all of my life, so this is what I do,” said Hemphill, who has been a volunteer at the facility for the last three years. “For me, this is so fulfilling. I’m not one to stay at home, so this is why I do this, and I’m fine with that. It’s something to do and it’s something that helps somebody else.”
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Volunteer Lawrence Burke straightens cans in his section during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Joe Franciscus puts grapes in an attendee's shopping cart during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Volunteer Lawrence Burke straightens cans in his section during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Christian messages are written on the walls during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Christian messages are written on the walls during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Steve Garcia organizes mangoes during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Steve Garcia organizes mangoes during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Joe Franciscus puts grapes in an attendee's shopping cart during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Volunteer Lawrence Burke straightens cans in his section during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Steve Garcia organizes mangoes during a food distribution event at The Lighthouse Foundation in Valencia on Monday, July 28, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
As clients enter the building, they are assigned a color-coded shower curtain clip that designates the size of their family, which denotes how much food they can collect. Each family is permitted two orders every month, with the exception of December, when it is limited to one because of the demand.
The entire room closely resembles what the inside of a local grocery store would look like, giving those in need an abundance of options when it comes to bread, produce, meats, canned items and desserts.
“It’s all about choice here, which is great,” Franciscus said. “We definitely have a ton of options for them. It’s not just handed to them, and they always get to choose what they want.”
The volunteers say it’s about creating a caring environment that provides clients comfort as they gather items.
“It’s a judge-free zone here,” said Lawrence Burke, who has volunteered with the Lighthouse Foundation for more than a year. “It’s nice to give food, but there’s a lot more people that need it that don’t come. I tell everybody that’s a senior citizen to come up to the food bank and get their food here.”
