Need for holiday help is up, but so are those offering it

YOUNGSTOWN

The holidays provide people with a welcome refuge from the cold, dark winter months, and no population is more in need of a safe haven than the poor and homeless.

Organizations ranging from singular church food pantries to multi-county soup kitchens provide for those in need throughout the Mahoning Valley, and the demand for their services increases as the year draws to a close.

Just outside downtown Youngstown, Our Community Kitchen, a soup kitchen and service provider for the poor and homeless, has been managing an increased flow of individuals as the cold temperatures have forced people in off the streets.

Alan Wasylychyn, a staff member at Our Community Kitchen who has been serving those in need for the last 12 years, said that while there are more people who need their services during the holiday season, there are also more individuals willing to give of their time and their checkbooks.

“Especially around the holidays, we’ll have a lot of supporters who will donate entire meals to us,” Wasylychyn said. “We just had a pastor today who dropped off hams that he and his crew will be cooking and serving on Saturday.”

Thursday afternoon, a group of students from Kent State Ashtabula’s Hospitality Management program visited Our Community Kitchen to spend the day volunteering at the soup kitchen.

Skip Barone, the director of Our Community Kitchen, often works 10- to 12-hour days and spends much of his time during the holidays driving around and picking up food donations from across the Valley.

Read more about the situation in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.