State College Food Bank Scrambling to Handle Heavy Thanksgiving Load

With the holidays rolling around, a lot of people are just starting to think about Thanksgiving. Volunteers at the State College Food Bank started making plans weeks ago.

“This is the busiest ten days of the year,” says Carol Pioli, the food bank’s executive director. “This is a food bank, so like any other non-profits we have budgets and we have to pre-plan the product.”

In the run up to Thanksgiving the food bank will serve more than 1,000 clients. Another 900 people will receive holiday food for Christmas.

Pioli says the holiday rush is a challenge because there is a massive need for food and the food bank currently operates in a relatively cramped space. The food bank will be moving to a larger building next year, but the current facility is only about 1,300 square feet.

Because of the small space, the food bank simply can’t hold all the food that is actually needed.

“We don’t have the space to pre-pack everything at one time,” Pioli says. “We have to do daily trips to either Giant or Weis because we don’t have the room for all the freezers to put turkeys in.”

Complicating matters, the food bank also has to take care of clients who rely on regular monthly food distributions. Clients are allowed to  collect food at the food bank once every 30 days. Distributions to help families at Thanksgiving and Christmas time are on top of the regular monthly allotment.

“Right now what we’re doing is working ahead to do food drives to have regular food when January comes,” Pioli says.

For Thanksgiving, food bank clients will receive turkey, stuffing mix, fresh potatoes, gravy, vegetables, pie crust mix, pumpkin pie filling,  and cranberry sauce.

Space limitations are also an issue for volunteers. The food bank has 60 core volunteers and often can’t accept more because there’s just not enough space in the building.

“Because of the small size it’s hard to say yes to everyone that comes to help,” Pioli says.

Another ongoing problem is donations of expired food. Pioli says expired food actually creates a cost for the food bank because the organization has to spend money to dispose of it.

“If I won’t eat it I wouldn’t give it to someone else to eat,” Pioli says. “I wish sometimes more people would think about that but they don’t.”

But above all, Pioli says the food bank is a positive experience and it’s vital to help a lot of families have a nice holiday.

“People do appreciative it,” Pioli says. We want them to have a special Thanksgiving too.”

To learn more or to make a donation to the State College Food Bank Click HERE.

Popular Stories:

Penn State Football: Nittany Lions Face Nebraska in Final Home Game

Penn State Football: Senior Day, A Capsule Look at All 17 Nittany Lion Seniors

McGloin Named NFL Rookie of the Week

Penn State Football: Further Sanction Reductions Not Out Of The Question According To Mitchell

After Internal Criticism, PSU Board of Trustees Adds New Member to Presidential Search Committee

Student Injured in Fall From Apartment Balcony