Sign Of The Times . . .Thousands Line Up At Center Township Food Pantry.

Story and photos by Mark Peterson.

(Monaca, PA)  The brief sunshine on Thursday morning wasn’t the only reason people were smiling  along Wagner Road in Center Township.  The weekly free food distribution by Faith Restorations Food Pantry may have also played a part.  With a high number of local residents suddenly without work, and in many cases without paychecks or unemployment compensation yet  due to the COVID-19 business shutdown, the amount of food being given away has doubled in recent days.  On Thursday, John Leonard, a volunteer with Faith Restorations, paused unloading a truck full of donated food and hopped down off of a fork lift to offer an observation about the recent spike in the need area families now have for the  food.

Volunteers prepare boxes of food at Faith Restorations Food Pantry.

Faith Restorations Food Pantry relies on donations to supply the food, both cash and actual food donations.  Sean Minahan and Michael Baux  from Sodexo Food Service at The University of Pittsburgh had arrived earlier yesterday morning to the warehouse with a truck full of much needed food.  It seems that with all of the Pitt students home taking classes online,  Minahan no longer has to plan dining options and meals for thousands of hungry students every day, so this was a perfect match of time and resources.

Vehicles efficiently pass through the lanes to receive a weekly food allotment.

Around 3,200 families are now being served by Faith Restorations Food Pantry. Everyone is welcome.  Distribution schedule is as follows: Mondays beginning around 9 A.M. for Veterans.  The general public can take advantage of the free food distribution on Tuesday evenings starting at 4:30 P.M. and also on Thursday mornings beginning at 10 A.M.  Leonard commented that the need is so great right now that many times, cars will begin to line up four or five hours early.  Indeed on Thursday, vehicles were lined up all the way out on to Route 18 in front of Wal Mart and heading down the hill toward Monaca.    Once open however, the assembly line style process was pretty efficient with two lines of cars quickly passing through and dozens of volunteers dropping prepared boxes of food into the awaiting hatchbacks of cars.

Cars line up early on Wagner Road and Route 18 in Center Township Thursday’s free food distribution at Faith Restorations Food Pantry.

Providing much needed free food to is something that has an effect that still amazes John Leonard.

Faith Restorations Food Pantry can be reached at 724-709-7718,  or click here for more information about the organization’s mission.