Our Programs
THANK YOU!! A huge shout out and thank you goes to all our fabulous volunteers, our monetary and food donors, Second Harvest Food Bank, Diocese of Allentown and St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, Lehigh County Commissioners for approving CDBG grants, Whitehall Township and Coplay Borough, Hokey Fire Department and Fire Hall members and volunteers, WCSD, and all the Whitehall-Coplay and Catholic School clubs and Lehigh Valley businesses that do food and toiletry drives for us. We could not do our programs without your support. We are so blessed to have such a great group of interested and dedicated people all working together to help our community.
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WCHI Choice Pantry
We are located at St John the Baptist Church, 3024 S Ruch St, Whitehall. Our Pantry is open Y on both the 2nd and 3rd Thursday of the month from 9:30am-1pm and from 4:30-7pm. This is by appointment only and we close promptly at 1pm and 7pm. Whitehall and Coplay residents can only visit once a month. First time attendees, come to the parking lot behind the Church and a volunteer will give your directions. For our guests, who have mobility issues, don’t worry. We will have an ordering form available for you to complete during your scheduled time. A WCHI volunteer will shop for you and bring the food to your car in the Church parking lot. Requirements: We serve Whitehall and Coplay Borough residents. Please present a valid photo ID and/or utility bill to verify residency. You reed to bring this every time you come for food. Income limits apply per the household size. No income paperwork is required. No smoking is permitted. WCHI is proud that Second Harvest Food Bank selected us to be one of three Healthy Food Pantry Initiatives in Lehigh County, which offers healthier low fat and low salt products, when possible. After we register our guests, a volunteer takes them shopping though our Choice Pantry. Our guests select the food items that they will eat and choose from several food types: canned fruit and vegetables, grains, ready to eat food, snacks, coffee/beverages, condiments, refrigerated and frozen foods, and toiletries. We also try to provide fresh produce, when available. Our guests have told us that they really like our “choice pantry” compared to our prior outside pre-bagged food items they received through April 2022. Please go to https://tinyurl.com/WCHIPantryList to donate needed food items. These items can also be dropped or shipped to Shari Noctor at my Re/Max Unlimited office, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall PA 18052 In June WCHI’s Pantry served 200 households (47 Coplay and 153 Whitehall); 275 Children, 321 Adults, and 169 seniors for a total of 765 people. Food provided to prepare was 3825 meals. We had 15 new households register. We know there are many more food insecure residents in Whitehall Township and Coplay Borough and we want to provide food to them. Please let your family, friends, and neighbors know about us. We are here to help. Jenn Dietz, Al Edelman, Bill Meltzer are our Pantry Co-Chairs. Questions or to schedule an appointment, call 484-225-0358. Free Community Meals
WCHI and the Faith-Based Community are proud to provide these FREE meals to low-income Whitehall-Coplay households twice a month. All are welcome to attend both meals on the 1st Sunday and 3rd Tuesday each month from 4:00-6:30. Meals are guaranteed for the first 100 guests. Meal service will stop after the meals have been depleted and the doors will be closed. Each site location will state if this is an inside dine-in meal, an outside “Drop and Go” pick up meal, or both. We will post site requirements on Facebook for each meal. The host locations change every time. Go to www.tinyurl.com/WCHIprograms for updated meal locations. Questions about hosting a meal or a guest wanting more info, please contact Karen Haberern, Program Chair, at 610-730-3184 Sunday, September 4th - Muslim Association of the LV (MALV), 1988 Schadt Ave, Whitehall - 703-346-9698 Tuesday, September 20th - Whitehall Bible Fellowship Church 3300 7th St. Whitehall - 610-434-8661 Sunday, October 2nd - Muslim Association of the LV (MALV), 1988 Schadt Ave, Whitehall - 703-346-9698 Tuesday, October 18th - Redeemed Christian Church of God 5 N 3rd St, Coplay - 610-262-8993 Sunday, November 6th - St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church 618 Fullerton Ave, Whitehall - 610-266-0695 Tuesday, November 15th - First Presbyterian of Hokendauqua 3005 S. Front St. Whitehall - 610-264-9693 Sunday, December 4th - Muslim Association of the LV (MALV), 1988 Schadt Ave, Whitehall - 703-346-9698 Tuesday, December 20th - Whitehall Bible Fellowship Church 3300 7th St. Whitehall - 610-434-8661 Mickey Run Apartments Outreach Program
This year-round program was launched to provide the “Roseto Story” where neighbors get to know and help their fellow neighbors. Together we all bring a sense of community into the apartment complex. This has been very well-accepted program since starting in June 2020. We help alleviate the food needs of the children, youth, adults, and seniors living in the Mickley Run Apartment Complex. Neighbors will either bring neighbors with them or pick up food from our Food Pantry for those who do not have transportation when they pick up their food. Questions?
Please call /text 484-225-0358 with questions on anything written above. WCHI is definitely making a difference in peoples’ lives. THANK YOU ALL!! |
Senior Boxes
The Senior Food Box Program works to improve the health of low-income seniors by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA Foods. The senior food boxes do not provide a complete diet, but rather are good sources of the nutrients typically lacking in the diets of older Americans. Usually included in the 35-pound food box is: non-fat dry and shelf-stable fluid milk, juice, oats, ready-to-eat cereal, rice, pasta, dry beans, peanut butter, canned meat, poultry, or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables. The senior box income guidelines are much lower than the Pantry income guidelines. The income guidelines include all the income for all the people living in the household. For example, a household size of 1 person can have income of $17,667 to qualify for a senior box compared to $25,142 to qualify for Pantry food. In a four-person household, the maximum income for all four people must be at or below $36,075 for the senior(s) to receive a box. If there are two or more seniors living in the household and the total income is at or below the limit, each senior can have a box if they want it, but each person must fill out a separate form and everyone living in the household must be named along with their birthdates. Proof of the senior’s age is a requirement. This would be on a driver’s license. No worries if the senior does not drive. We still can qualify them. Hunger PA has a grant to partner with Door Dash and member food banks to deliver senior boxes. Second Harvest has selected WCHI to be part of this Door Dash program. Once we have our guests signed up, there will be one scheduled day a month and a 2-hour time frame, that the senior will be aware of, that the Senior Boxes will be delivered to the senior’s front door. We are hoping to debut this feature in October. WCHI is committed to helping as many low-income Whitehall and Coplay residents as possible in our area that qualify both for the Pantry and the Senior Box Program. We also include homebound and mobility impaired residents. Please spread the word through your faith-based bulletins, and by telling your family, friends, and neighbors. Questions, call Gail, Program Chair, at 610-351-6412. Bingo
WCHI will be offering bingo at St Peter Roman Catholic Church, 4 S. 5th St, Coplay on September 11th, October 9th, and November 6th (1st Sunday). There is no bingo in December. We will start up again on January 15th. Doors will open at 1pm and bingo starts at 2pm. Please mark your calendars. Fabulous food is available to purchase. Children are allowed to play if accompanied by an adult. $15 entry fee buys you 2 bingo boards with four games. Each additional board is $1 each and a pack of 5 specials are $5. Bingo chips and dabbers are available for purchase on site and through Amazon or Jackpot Amusements, 5827 Colony Dr, Bethlehem 610-837-9240. Questions and reservations, please call Liz Rodgers, Program Chair, 484-274-6687. WCHI Garden at Mickley-Prydun Farm
You can see our garden from the Ironton Rail Trail between Center and Lehigh Steets. Our garden has been planted, cultivated, watered, and weeded by dedicated WCHI volunteers. They grew tomatoes, sweet peppers, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, carrots, and cucumbers. They also planted sunflowers and zinnias to attract bees to pollinate the plants. The fresh vegetables were given to the children during our Children’s Summer Feeding Program which ended on August 24th and the remaining produce will be given to our Pantry guests throughout the October growing season, while supplies last. A huge THANK YOU also goes out to the Hokey Fire Department who has brought water to fill our water bins during the growing season. To find out how you can volunteer with WCHI’s garden, please call Gwen Herczog, Program Chair, 610-379-6823. Monetary Donations are appreciated and can be made payable to the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative, C/O Shari Noctor, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall, PA 18052. Please put in the memo section where you want your donation applied. The Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative is a 501(c) (3) IRS approved nonprofit organization and your donation may be tax deductible. Please discuss with your financial advisor.
Volunteers
We are a 100% volunteer organization and could never do any of our programs that help our Whitehall and Coplay residents without their continued support, time, and talents. All volunteers must have state required criminal background clearances since we work with children. For a full list of our requirements and to register, please go to our website https://tinyurl.com/WCHIvolunteer Questions, e-mail Sylvia Lee, Program Chair, at volunteerme.lee@gmail.com Our Socials
Please visit our website https://tinyurl.com/WCHIhome! Like us on Facebook https://tinyurl.com/WCHIfb! Follow us on Instagram https://tinyurl.com/IGWCHunger! Questions, call Susan, Communications Chair, 610-440-1659. |