Cocca: Soup kitchen project goes on without Second Harvest

YOUNGSTOWN — Anthony Cocca and his family have issued a statement about the separation of the Cocca Development and Second Harvest Food Bank partnership to open a soup kitchen.

The kitchen will be open in the second quarter of 2016 and managed by Ralph “Skip” Barone, the former kitchen manager at the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s food kitchen on Front Street, the statement said.

“While Second Harvest is an incredible organization and does very well at providing food to many charities that feed thousands of people, we felt it was necessary to separate ties to assure our vision of the Community Kitchen would prevail,” the statement reads.

Cocca was originally an anonymous donor who provided the funds to Second Harvest for the kitchen back in December.

“We do find it disappointing that Second Harvest broke the promise of keeping our specified donation anonymous,” the statement reads.

The Vindicator broke the story April 1 that the two sides had separated. Cocca cited the rigid guidelines of Feeding America and Second Harvest.

“To say that our separation was based on the standards of food preparations is absurd,” the statement reads. “We refused to have an institutional fenced property where people were expected to stand in the rain, heat, or cold and wait until 10 minutes before serving times to be allowed to come into our facility because of guidelines set by others.”