Efforts bring happy Easter to many people
It all started with simple Facebook posts.
One led to dozens of shut-ins and veterans in Armstrong County getting served home-cooked Easter meals. Another provided hams to dozens more northern Butler County families.
When East Brady business owner Luanne McAnallen saw a moving post from the property manager of a local senior apartment complex, the owner of All Stars Restaurant made two phone calls, and from there “the rest was history.”
“If any of you are bored or have children that need a new activity, I have a request. Please send cards, colored pictures, any art or wonderful creation you can mail to the residents at Allegheny Hills Retirement Residence,” Tracy Barnhart Sheakley wrote in her plea on Facebook. “This time is hard on us all. Most of the residents do not have Wi-Fi, Netflix, smartphones or computers to keep them occupied. I am seeing their spirits fall.”
Sheakley went on to explain how some residents at the East Brady complex suffer from health conditions confining them to their apartments and unable to see family members.Others, she wrote, have no family at all.Joining efforts with businesses throughout the small, tight-knit community nestled along the banks of the Allegheny River, McAnallen pulled together donations of everything from food and cookies to candy and Easter baskets for the borough's seniors living at Allegheny Hills.The group also reached out and served Easter ham dinners to veterans living at the Mechling-Shakley Veterans Center in Cowansville, as well as to residents living at the East Brady Riverview Apartments.“Everybody is so good to help,” McAnallen said of the effort. “That's what's so awesome about living in a small community.”Joining forces with Renee Patton, owner of the St. Cloud Restaurant in town, as well as the owners of Old Bank Deli and members of American Legion Post 488, the group provided meals and happier Easter memories for more than 150 shut-Ins living in the area.“When you cook in a restaurant, it's easier to cook for 150 people than just two,” McAnallen said.
Much like Sunday's efforts in the tight-knit community of East Brady, two northern Butler County businesses joined forces Saturday to ensure families in the Karns City area had the traditional ham on the table for Easter dinner as well.Shaun Krill of Butler area Krill Recycling and Zac Slater of Slater's Meats & More in Karns City did their part to help the community by delivering and handing out around 80 half hams to those in need or impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Both Krill and Slater have been able to stay open as essential businesses through the outbreak. Krill said they came up with the idea while talking in Slater's store recently.Slater's meat shop ordered its usual number of hams for the Easter season, but saw a drop in orders, Krill said. So, the two business owners decided to split the cost and distribute the extra hams.The men posted on Facebook late last week that the extra hams would be available Saturday.The two even made home deliveries and distributed from the Oakland Township municipal building and the North Washington Rodeo Grounds.“I try to do as much as we can for the community,” Krill said. “We're community businesses. It's our way to give back.”
