SHENANGO VALLEY Agency aims to meet growing needs

The program is launching a fund drive seeking at least $32,000 to help fund its operations.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- The Community Food Warehouse of the Shenango Valley supplies food to 3,000 families in Mercer County, and that number is going up.
The nonprofit agency, a major supplier to local food pantries and other nonprofit groups, had 2,870 families on its list last year at this time, all from Mercer County, said Michael Wright, executive director.
The number has risen to 3,000 in those 12 months, he said, blaming the growing need on a slumping economy and too many minimum wage jobs that require people to look for help to fill their cupboards.
The Food Warehouse runs on a budget of $336,000 per year, most of that coming in the form of grants, local municipal support and food sales to member agencies.
Fund-raising campaign
The Food Warehouse also depends on a public fund-raising campaign to raise about 10 percent of its budget, and this year's fund drive begins this week.
"That's our major fund-raiser for the year," Wright said, noting that 1,100 letters of solicitation are being sent out to past donors, asking them to again support the program.
That list includes churches, individuals, organizations and companies, he said.
The churches duplicate that letter and put it in their Sunday bulletins and on their bulletin boards, he said.
"It's a very ecumenical group ... that reaches across all barriers to serve nearly 3,000 families in Mercer County," said James B. Winner, president of the Food Warehouse board of directors.
The drive netted $32,000 last year, and Wright said the goal is to reach or surpass that mark in this year's effort, which will end Dec. 31.
Costs
The program supplies food at lower-than-market costs to 32 nonprofit agencies in Mercer County, Wright said, adding that 20 of them are food pantries run by churches or other groups.
Most of the food is purchased by the Food Warehouse at costs between 6 and 14 cents per pound from America's Second Harvest Food Bank. Those items are passed on to the member agencies at a flat rate of 16 cents per pound.
The Food Warehouse also participates in a special purchase program in which it gets food items at 30 percent below wholesale. Member agencies can get that food at the Food Warehouse cost plus a small markup, Wright said.
All items donated free to the Food Warehouse are passed along to member agencies free of charge, he said.
Wright said a bonus for this year's drive will come from the Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal and philanthropic organization for those of the Lutheran faith.
"They approached us," he said, explaining Lutheran Brotherhood is willing to match any of its members' donations to the fund drive, up to a total of $2,000.
The Food Warehouse will mark its 20th anniversary in 2003.