EVANS CITY — The sacrifice of a family of Pittsburgh Steelers fans has earned the borough’s food cupboard thousands of dollars over the past seven years.

Longtime Steelers season ticket holders Jim and Janet Shaffer have quietly raffled off two tickets and a parking pass to one Steelers game per year with all proceeds benefiting the Evans City Community Food Cupboard at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

The Shaffers have raised more than $6,000 for the food cupboard each of the past two years.

Kimberly Shaffer-Davidson said her parents collect a $5 donation for each raffle ticket, then hold a tailgate party in the parking lot of their beauty salon on Shaffer Alley during the Steelers’ first away game. The winning ticket is pulled at the party.

This year’s event was held during the Steelers’ Sept. 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In recent years, Shaffer-Davidson said a handful of merchandise also is donated by Evans City businesses, and raffles are held for those items too.

She said many people at the tailgate party also give the Shaffers cash or food donations for the food cupboard.

Shaffer-Davidson said her family is reluctant to accept thanks for the program, and she credits the community for the sizable donation.

“Without the community, we could not do it,” Shaffer-Davidson said.

She said the tailgate party is also a day for friends and fans to get together and play bean bag toss, watch the game, and visit. She said everyone is welcome, not just those who buy raffle tickets.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said, “and every dime we collect is donated to the food cupboard.”

Shaffer-Davidson said the family got the idea for the philanthropic project after her daughter completed her senior project at Seneca Valley Senior High School several years ago.

Shaffer-Davidson said her daughter put together various cookbooks and sold them to raise money for the food cupboard.

“Our heartstrings were pulled,” Shaffer-Davidson said. “You wouldn’t believe how many people get food from the food cupboard.”

Marilyn McElhinny, volunteer coordinator for the food cupboard, said 95 families regularly collect food on the first and third Friday mornings of each month. She said about 120 families collect Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets each year.

She said the timing of the donation from the Shaffer tailgate party is excellent because she can add an extra item or two to each holiday basket.

She also uses the Shaffers’ and other donations to buy grocery store vouchers to be handed out with each basket so that families can buy a turkey, ham or other meat for their holiday table.

“It’s fantastic,” McElhinny said of the Shaffer’s efforts. “It comes at a really good time.”

She recalls the results of the first tailgate party at the Shaffer property several years ago.

“When they first called me and told me the amount they had raised, I was like ‘Whoa! Could you say that one more time?’” McElhinny said. “I thought maybe they collected a couple hundred dollars.”

Filling the baskets so low-income families can enjoy a bountiful holiday dinner is made much easier each year by the Shaffer’s tailgate event, McElhinny said.

“We are delighted with them,” she said.

The Evans City Community Food Cupboard provides food for low-income families in Evans City, Callery, Connoquenessing, Meridian, Renfrew and Forward Township.

Monetary donations can be made to the food cupboard at 202 Van Buren St., Evans City, Pa. 16033. Food donations can be made between 9 a.m. and noon on weekdays at the same address, which is St. Peters Lutheran Church.

Shaffer-Davidson said those in need of food must fill out paperwork to ensure they meet the income guidelines, and should call the food cupboard at 724-538-0542 to do so.