(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Seven years after its establishment, a local food pantry cemented a milestone in their journey to combat food insecurity in Beaver County.

Families Matter Food Pantry held an official ribbon-cutting for their new distribution center at 186 Wagner Road in Monaca. The former site of the Steamfitters Union building is now responsible for maintaining and preserving different types of food for those in need. The event was hosted by director Rachel Triscila and assistant director Quina Price, in cooperation with the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce.

According to Price, Families Matter takes in roughly 239,000 pounds of food a month; ranging from fresh produce to packaged meals. The non-profit organization is an agency of the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, and they also receive local donations from farmers and other donors. The new facility of operation in Monaca has two major storage areas for produce and packaged foods, several cold storage areas for refrigerated foods and dairy, and a expansive walk-in freezer for frozen goods. The staff maintain the quality of the foods donated to Families Matter, before they are distributed during their hours of operation each week.

Families Matter has been cooperating with Lowe’s in Monaca for distributing food three days a week: Monday (for veterans only), Tuesday, and Thursday. Food is also distributed through several trucks to its parent distributor in the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank throughout the week.

Triscila and Price showed much gratitude and gratefulness that their operation, which started out under the Faith Restorations Inc. moniker back in 2016, but Triscila hinted at the possibility that this may not be the mountaintop. “We’re always looking to expand,” she told Beaver County Radio during the tour of the facility.

For now, though, they’re focusing on this new chapter of the pantry’s evolution, albeit with the same goal they’ve been pushing towards for nearly a decade.