COVID-19

Unions donate to food banks

Five organizations receive money from labor groups

The coronavirus pandemic this year led to cancellation of a succession of events in which the Blair-Bedford Central Labor Council normally participates -- a food drive, a dance, a banquet and the annual Labor Day parade -- so to compensate, the council raised funds to help offset a more serious pandemic cancellation for many area families: the capacity for earning a paycheck that can be redeemed at the local supermarket.

On Friday, council President Bob Kutz distributed the resulting $5,000 among five local charity food distribution outlets.

"We decided we would do something good," Kutz told the representatives of St. Vincent de Paul Assumption Chapel Food Pantry, the Altoona Food Bank, SVDP Food for Families soup kitchen, Sacred Heart Food Pantry and Reapers Food Ministry, before handing each an equal share of the money.

"That's a big check for us," said Mandi Leberfinger of Reapers, which is associated with First Baptist Church of Altoona and doesn't get much government funding because it includes religious persuasion with the food it provides to 400 families every month.

Assumption Chapel feeds about 1,300 families, including many new ones whose breadwinners lost jobs due to COVID-19, said Co-director Bob McManus.

Some are in that situation for the first time, and some are embarrassed to need the help.

"This is the last resort," he said. "We just try to comfort them."

Many have three or four children.

"You hate to see kids go hungry," McManus said.

The Altoona Food Bank serves about 300 families per month, including many new ones, although the number is actually down from pre-pandemic, because of the many additional charity options the pandemic has spawned, including church giveaways and informal "porch pantries" stocked by ordinary residents, said treasurer Linda Noonan.

"It's an indication of a community that helps each other," Noonan said.

People who come for help must fill out a form declaring their income, which must be no higher than 150 percent of federal poverty, Noonan said.

"(Still) no one goes away hungry," she said.

Families get enough to last for about two weeks, she estimated.

They get more than they did pre-pandemic, she said.

People come in cars and walk, some even towing wagons, she said.

Sacred Heart serves about 50 families a month, about the same as before the pandemic, but with newer people in the mix, said Director Rita Sangiorgi and Co-director Barb Gearhart.

Recipients learn about the pantry by word-of-mouth and from notices in the newspaper, they said.

The pantry started in 1985 with an announcement from then-pastor Monsign­or Anthony O'Toole, and Sangiorgi attended the first meeting.

Her participation since then has been unbroken.

"I'm interested in helping others," she said. "It's part of religion."

Like other groups, the Reapers have gotten lots of new people due to the pandemic, yet without increasing their totals, as others who once came have found other means of getting help.

While the pandemic has deprived families of food money, it has also freed up sources of food that would have been otherwise spoken for, which means that it's been easier for food banks to acquire stock, according to Leberfinger.

Her food bank has received almost $1 million worth of food this year from the Walmart distribution center alone, she said.

Several union locals and individuals donated the money that went to the food banks, Kutz said.

They include locals of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Transport Workers Union, the United Steelworkers, the Sheet Metal Workers, the International Association of Machinists, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the International Association of Fire Fighters the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, the South Central Building Trades and the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

About 300 people come every weekday to the soup kitchen to pick up hot midday meals, remaining in their cars, to prevent infection, according to Sister Pauline Kawtoski.

They're invariably grateful, she said.

"It's an expression of reciprocal love," Kawtoski said, dabbing at her eyes.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.