Grants totaling $15,000 from two charitable trusts are fueling deliveries of food to Venango County this year. Awarded in fall 2012, the grants are providing eight mobile food pantry distributions as well as credit lines to nine traditional food pantries – to cover their orders from Second Harvest’s inventory.

 

Funding for the mobiles is being provided by the Frederick & Ellen Fair Memorial Charitable Trust, which is administered by PNC Charitable Trusts Grant Review Committee. So far, two of the mobile distributions have been conducted – in Polk, by Polk United Methodist Church at the Fire Station, and in Pleasantville, by Pleasantville United Methodist Church in their parking lot. Distributions are planned for five locations throughout Venango County, including a new mobile site in Clintonville.

 

Recipients at the Polk mobile pantry in March told site coordinator Ethel Adams how much the mobile was helping them. Individuals in the community have also been asking her when there will be another distribution. “There definitely is a need,” she said.

 

The Samuel Justus Charitable Trust, which is also administered by PNC Charitable Trust Grant Review Committee, and the Fair Memorial Charitable Trust are funding the credit lines for the nine food pantries, including the Community Services of Venango County, Inc., Food Pantry in Oil City. This is the second year that Community Services is benefitting from the generosity of trusts of which PNC is trustee. Mary Jeanne Gavin, the social services program director, told us there has been an increase of 75 families during the first quarter of this year over first quarter 2012. “Because of the food provided by these grants, our agency has been able to keep up with the increasing demand for food and to continue to serve the community’s most vulnerable,” she said.

 

“Second Harvest is very grateful to PNC Charitable Trusts Grant Review Committee for their continued support for our programs in Venango County,” said Karen Seggi, Executive Director of Second Harvest. “Fifteen percent of Venango’s residents are not able to secure adequate food on their own. The grants are making it possible for Second Harvest to distribute thousands of pounds of food to reach as many of these families as possible.”