Local fire companies, volunteers and community members came through in a big way last weekend to support the growing needs of the YMCA of Centre County’s Anti-Hunger Programs.
Alpha Fire Company in State College, Logan Fire Company in Bellefonte and volunteers, including volunteer firefighters, in Philipsburg collected community donations of shelf-stable food totaling more than 24,000 pounds during a four-hour “Canuary Food Drive” on Saturday at four Centre County Weis Markets locations.
“The community support was overwhelming and the firefighters did a fantastic job,” said Mel Curtis, director of the YMCA of Centre County’s Anti-Hunger Programs. “This truly shows what I have seen since the start of COVID. People want to be part of something that is good and helps others and this past weekend proved that.”
Amid rising costs, more families are seeking food assistance from the YMCA program now than during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Curtis said. The majority are working families, but there also has been a “higher-than-normal amount,” of senior citizens. And while the program receives regular shipments of fresh food, the need for shelf-stable foods is high.
“Inflation has really hurt a lot of people through high costs of food, gasoline, home heating costs and so many more products,” Curtis said. “If you think of it, a dozen eggs bouncing between $5 to $6 is crazy for families when not that long ago it wasn’t uncommon to see 99 cents per dozen. Then you have the issue of the supply chain, the USDA allocations, food banks getting in sparse amounts of foods. From what we are hearing this may last into late March.”
The idea for the Canuary Food Drive started small, with Port Matilda Elementary Principal Skip Pighetti letting Curtis know students there were doing a canned food drive for items to be donated to the YMCA Anti-Hunger Programs. Curtis was inspired to do a large-scale drive and set about finding volunteers.
He knew it would take a large number of volunteers and his thoughts turned to local fire companies.
“Since March of 2020, I have worked with a lot of volunteer fire companies throughout the county,” Curtis said. “These are the unsung heroes in every community and they care about the community we serve.”
With Weis Markets joining as a partner, volunteer and Alpha member Greg Guise took the idea to the fire company, which was quickly on board to collect at the Westerly Parkway and Rolling Ridge Drive stores. Logan Fire Company jumped at the opportunity as well and manned the Bellefonte location, and in Philipsburg, the YMCA used the “Hometown Heroes” firetruck, a mobile feeding unit, and volunteers including firefighters.
In just a few hours, the effort collected thousands of items.
“We are very fortunate to live in an area that residents wrap their arms around their community to help others, to build back their community and make it stronger,” Curtis said. “I have always believed that it’s not about he with the most toys, it’s all about how many people you helped. These firefighters made a major impact on other lives; they truly changed lives.”
There are challenges ahead, Curtis said, as the extra Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program emergency allotment payments come to an end after February, heightening the need for food banks and pantries.
The Canuary Food Drive will aid in the effort and continues through the remainder of the month, with many churches, businesses, schools, offices and student groups participating.
“This truly shows that the success of this drive is the volunteers and their passion to make sure no child goes to bed hungry, that no mom has to worry about what she will feed the family, or where the next meal will be coming from,” Curtis said.
