St. Vincent de Paul food bank looks to expand its space
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul food bank at 157 Elm St. hopes to soon expand its space and streamline operations with the addition of a 30-by-50-foot pole building.
Fred McClaine, the society's business coordinator, said, “We'll break ground for a new building behind the food bank as soon as we get permission from the city.”
The planned building would replace a garage and expand slightly into the present parking lot.
Jim Owens, president of the Catholic lay society's Butler County district, said, “Since 2004, when we moved to our Elm Street location, the number of families using the food bank has grown from 250 a month to more than 1,000 families.”
“To meet this increased demand we have increased the amount of food we purchase from the Pittsburgh Food Bank, and we have added two large walk-in coolers and two walk-in freezers,” he said.
“We have simply run out of room. There have been times when we have had to pass up food that was available simply because we had no room to store it,” said Owens.
“We should address this issue because we are the largest food bank in Butler County, and we have the experience, knowledge and resources required to make this operation a success,” said Owens.
McClain said the new building would be used for storage. It would be equipped with shelves that would be able to hold up to two pallets of food and have a door that could accommodate truck deliveries.
The society hopes to fund $50,000 of the $67,000 cost of the new building through grants from the county, the state, the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, the Giant Eagle Foundation, the Palumbo Charitable Trust, the Cahouet Family Foundation and the Genuardi Family Foundation.
The remainder of the building costs will be made up of contributions from the 11 parishes in Butler County that make up the society and from the society's operations budget.
Owens said five members of the society, including McClain, are overseeing the pole building's construction. All but one is retired and the five have work experience in the fields of project management, construction, maintenance and finance.
The Society's food bank distributes food between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.
According to the society, between its food bank, thrift store and donations from Butler County churches, businesses, organizations and individuals, the society was able to aid 13,000 clients in the last fiscal year.
