Allegheny Township church plans food pantry
In the short time since members of the Six Points Church of God of Prophecy in Allegheny Township began a monthly food distribution for people in need in the northern part of the county, it became obvious that demand is greater than supply.
Dozens of dedicated church and community members volunteer for the Northern Butler County Food Distribution through the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank on the third Thursday of each month at the church since the distribution began in June 2024.
Volunteers want children to have a happy Easter so they filled 60 to 70 baskets with candy, bubbles and other gifts that were given out at the Thursday, April 17 distribution.
An average of 280 families either come to the church at 121 McKee Road for the distribution or have food delivered to them, but the number is growing and the food runs out sometimes.
The food bank helped by increasing the amount of food it provides to accommodate 300 to 310 families, and the church helped by donating leftovers from its soup kitchen.
“We have soup kitchens on the first Thursday. We have free soup and bread, dessert and a drink. Eight to 10 people donate the food. We froze the leftovers,” said Carrie Thompson, a church member who runs the distribution. “If the food distribution ran out, we would use that to help combat food insecurities in our area.”
To further address the area’s food insecurity, the church allowed the volunteers to open a food pantry where people can come to get nonperishable food, she said.
“It’s going to be a big undertaking, but we hope to make it as successful as the food distribution,” Thompson said.
Plans are to open the pantry at the church on the Thursdays when the distributions are not taking place beginning the first week of May. The time has been finalized, but it will probably be late afternoon or early evening, she said.
People have started donating food for the pantry by dropping off donations at a bin at the Community Christian Thrift Store on Route 38 in Petrolia. A continual flow of donations will be needed to operate the pantry.
Thompson said a second bin will be placed at the Beer Garden, on Route 38 in Washington Township, and she would like to have more bins at any business that will allow one.
Neither the pantry nor distribution would work without the support of the church, community and the 30 to 40 volunteers who work at the distributions, she said.
“Between the church and the community, everyone has been really accepting of this. It wouldn’t work if not,” Thompson said. “It’s been nice to have such an outpouring of help. Without the volunteers, it wouldn’t be successful.”
She said the church is the only place in the area large enough to accommodate the food distribution and pantry.
People wishing to donate food for the pantry can take food to the bins or call Thompson at 724-606-1170.
Judy Karnes, a church member and volunteer, said the food distribution runs like a well-oiled machine.
When a family arrives at the church, they wait in their car and a volunteer gives them a number. When that number comes up, a volunteer brings the family into the church with a cart and helps them select the food they want. The volunteer then takes the cart of food to the car and loads it for the family, she said.
“They wait in their cars and the volunteers do the rest,” Karnes said.
She said one person can collect food for up to four other people who don’t have transportation to get to the church themselves.
Before families arrive, the volunteers unload the food from the truck from the food bank and organize it on tables they set up. They also clean up after the distribution, she said.
One volunteer used her all-terrain vehicle in place of the carts during a stretch of bad weather over the winter, she added.
“We have such caring people,” Karnes said.
Ground venison donated from the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program also was a big help over the winter, Karns said.
She said her daughter in law’s Girl Scout Troop, Troop 52938 in Butler, made Easter cake decorating kits that were distributed Thursday. The kits include cake mix, pot holders, pans and a cookbook. “Everything you need to make an Easter cake,” Karnes said.
