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Travis and Kristina Kelley of Johnstown wanted to be first in line for the monthly Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank distribution at the Johnstown Galleria mall.
The family has relied on the drive-through food distribution for six months so they knew to arrive at 7:30 a.m., even though the nonprofit doesn’t start handing out groceries until noon.
But the Kelleys weren’t alone when they got to the parking lot near the shuttered Sears and Bon-Ton stores; drivers in more than a dozen cars were already waiting.
“It means we’ll be able to eat for the next couple of days,” Kristina, 35, said as they waited in her white Hyundai Venue.
With a 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, Travis, 37, said his disability check and Kelley’s salary working as a direct care aid aren’t stretching far enough to make ends meet.
The Johnstown distribution is the largest held by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. About a third of the people in the Johnstown region are at the poverty level, according to 2022 figures from the U.S. Census. By late morning on Nov. 8, about 550 vehicles were in the parking lot at the mall, and a steady stream of people continued to arrive.
In less than 2 ½ hours, several dozen volunteers working at drive-through stations distributed all the food.
“We brought food for 1,500 shares,” Andy Klingensmith, Distributions Coordinator for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, said after the distribution. “We probably had 1,000 cars.”
Some drivers serve as an official proxy, picking up food for more than one family.
Christa Johnson, Communications Specialist for the Food Bank, said a “share” is made up of about 45 pounds of food: a dozen eggs, a half-gallon of milk, a box of non-perishable goods, a box of produce, and one to two frozen protein items.
“We have seen numbers increasing at our distribution events,” Johnson wrote in an email. “Last fiscal year, we served about 9,600 families a month through our distributions, and we are now up to 11,900 a month.”
“We’re going to do this until we get things in order,” Travis Kelley said.
“It’s a war. I’m trying to fight to stay alive.”
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank supports 26 monthly food distributions and hundreds of agencies throughout an 11-county service region. More details and a schedule of food distributions are online. If you want to help, there are many ways to support the food bank.
The post How many cars show up for food from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank? More than you think appeared first on NEXTpittsburgh.
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