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I am pleased to provide statistics on our Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative (WCHI) Food Pantry attendance for the period July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023. All Food Pantries, that work with government supplied food, are on this fiscal year.
WCHI provided 48 food distributions. We report unduplicated data, which is counting households and guests only one time - no matter how many times they attend our Pantry. WCHI has accurate data for people registered for the entire year. Our unduplicated numbers for this fiscal year are: 485 households; 1,812 guests consisting of 688 children (ages 0-17); 843 adults (ages 18-59) and 281 seniors (ages 60+). Through our computer software, WCHI also has counted every guest that have attended at least two or more times during the year. These numbers are incredible and WCHI is proud to be helping so many residents - 10,844 people consisting of 3,910 children, 4,792 adults, and 2,142 seniors. WCHI sincerely thanks Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB), the Lehigh County Commissioners for grants WCHI has requested and obtained, and the generous public who consistently provides us with both food and monetary donations. SHFB is not a grocery store, and their food items are extremely limited. Without all these partners working with WCHI, we could never feed as many people as we do. Thank you everyone!!! Our Pantry is open the 2nd and 3rd Thursday of the month 9:30-1 pm and 4:30-7 pm by appointment only. We close the doors promptly at 1 and 7pm. Our reservations are usually 95% reserved. Guests sometimes forget their appointments, get sick, or do not have transportation that day. New guests are always welcome, but appointments are strongly recommended. WCHI works indirectly with USDA through the PA Dept of Agriculture and though SHFB to provide food to our income eligible guests. “The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans, including elderly people, by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. Through TEFAP, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases a variety of nutritious, high-quality USDA Foods, and makes those foods available to state distributing agencies. The amount of food each state receives out of the total amount of food provided is based on the number of unemployed persons and the number of people with incomes below the poverty level in the state. States provide the food to local agencies that they have selected, usually food banks, which in turn distribute the food to local organizations, such as soup kitchens and food pantries that directly serve the public. These funds must, in part, be passed down to local agencies. TEFAP is administered at the federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service, an agency of the USDA. Updated: 01/06/2020” https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/tefap-fact-sheet I wanted to explain briefly how we qualify each of our Pantry guests. Since we are now in July, new PA Dept of Agriculture “Self-Declaration of Need” forms must be updated for each household receiving food from our Pantry. Typically, this form is reviewed and signed once a year. “The Emergency Food Assistance Program is operated in accordance with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. Eligibility is based upon the income guidelines listed below. The recipient circles the entire line that applies to their Household Size, understanding they must be at, or below, the income level indicated to be eligible for program benefits.” I am happy that the household income limits were increased for the new fiscal year. The Total Household Income is based on 185% of Poverty. This month our guests will verify their income as mentioned on the forms (no proof of income is required at the time of registration). The guest then signs digitally, which is applied to their registration form in our computer software program. The process goes seamlessly but will add approximately 5 minutes per guest at registration. The household income is based on the day the guest comes into the Pantry. If their income goes up and they no longer qualify, the guest needs to let us know and WCHI cannot give them food. On the other hand, if a person has had a decrease in income and now, they qualify, they need to contact us to make an appointment to become a new guest. We have this many times with seasonal workers. WCHI is here to help food insecure Whitehall and Coplay residents. Please call us at 484-225-0358 with any questions.
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Submitted by Gwen Herzog, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative’s Vegetable Garden Chair
It has been another exciting month for the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative Garden. When we were finally graced with early June rain, all our vegetable plants began to flourish! We now have small peppers on our plants, and several tomato plants have begun to flower. Our eggplants’ leaves started to become lacy due to flea beetles, so these plants were dusted. Some of the radishes started protruding out of the ground and we were able to pick about 90 so far. Although I am behind on thinning the red beets and carrots, both are growing well. The parsley may be ready for a small first cutting for distribution this month. Our beds of zucchini and yellow squash are really taking off and I anticipate by the time you read this article, we may have little ones hanging on the vines. What we need now are hot days, warm nights, and regular rainfall to help our gardens grow. Fingers crossed! One major addition to the pantry garden is a new rainwater collection system. Thank you to the Whitehall Township Public Works Department for installing a rain gutter on the back of our shed with down spouting into our water storage tank. Installation was completed Thursday, June 22nd just in time for the weekend’s rain and as a result, our tank is now filled to the top. Many, many thanks to the Public Works team and to Mayor Harakal for supporting this valuable project! I also want to thank the Hockey Fire Department and our volunteers who brought water to the garden during the dry spring season. If you use the Ironton Rail Trail loop, you have surely seen our WCHI Garden. Like me, you have probably also wondered why we have so many grassy areas inside the garden fence compared with the amount of planting beds. Yes, we have space and opportunities. One of our garden volunteers has been working on clearing a space for another bed. In fact, this newly created space is almost ready to use. Due to its proximity to the outer fence, we discussed possibly having to protect it from deer. As luck would have it, in mid-June we received a donation of used fence posts and mesh fencing from our Pantry volunteers Pat and Bob, which will be perfect to use around this new bed. Speaking of planting new crops, we kept our “U” shaped bed open in anticipation of receiving donated vegetable or herb plants. If you find that you have any extra plants, please drop them at Shari Noctor’s Re/Max Unlimited office at 1080 Schadt Avenue, Whitehall, PA or give me a call at 610-379-6823 to arrange for pick up. In last month’s article, I announced that the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative is now part of the Lehigh Valley Plant-A-Row community. The week of June 19th, neighbors of mine, Fran and Walt, donated 4 lbs. of garden lettuce which we were not able to immediately distribute at WCHI. Fortunately, we used the Plant-A-Row community network and shared it with another local pantry that was distributing food the next day! As a reminder, any extra, fresh produce from your garden or orchard that you donate will first be distributed at our WCHI Pantry or at our Free Community Meals. If neither of these events will be taking place within a few days, your donation will be shared with local Plant-A-Row pantries that will be able to immediately distribute it. Nothing will go to waste. Fresh produce may be donated at Re/Max Unlimited and placed on the table in the foyer or give me a call me at 610-379-6823 to arrange for pick up. Have a great July and happy gardening! Submitted by Gwen Herzog, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative’s Vegetable Garden Chair
It has been another exciting month for the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative Garden. When we were finally graced with early June rain, all our vegetable plants began to flourish! We now have small peppers on our plants, and several tomato plants have begun to flower. Our eggplants’ leaves started to become lacy due to flea beetles, so these plants were dusted. Some of the radishes started protruding out of the ground and we were able to pick about 90 so far. Although I am behind on thinning the red beets and carrots, both are growing well. The parsley may be ready for a small first cutting for distribution this month. Our beds of zucchini and yellow squash are really taking off and I anticipate by the time you read this article, we may have little ones hanging on the vines. What we need now are hot days, warm nights, and regular rainfall to help our gardens grow. Fingers crossed! One major addition to the pantry garden is a new rainwater collection system. Thank you to the Whitehall Township Public Works Department for installing a rain gutter on the back of our shed with down spouting into our water storage tank. Installation was completed Thursday, June 22nd just in time for the weekend’s rain and as a result, our tank is now filled to the top. Many, many thanks to the Public Works team and to Mayor Harakal for supporting this valuable project! I also want to thank the Hockey Fire Department and our volunteers who brought water to the garden during the dry spring season. If you use the Ironton Rail Trail loop, you have surely seen our WCHI Garden. Like me, you have probably also wondered why we have so many grassy areas inside the garden fence compared with the amount of planting beds. Yes, we have space and opportunities. One of our garden volunteers has been working on clearing a space for another bed. In fact, this newly created space is almost ready to use. Due to its proximity to the outer fence, we discussed possibly having to protect it from deer. As luck would have it, in mid-June we received a donation of used fence posts and mesh fencing from our Pantry volunteers Pat and Bob, which will be perfect to use around this new bed. Speaking of planting new crops, we kept our “U” shaped bed open in anticipation of receiving donated vegetable or herb plants. If you find that you have any extra plants, please drop them at Shari Noctor’s Re/Max Unlimited office at 1080 Schadt Avenue, Whitehall, PA or give me a call at 610-379-6823 to arrange for pick up. In last month’s article, I announced that the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative is now part of the Lehigh Valley Plant-A-Row community. The week of June 19th, neighbors of mine, Fran and Walt, donated 4 lbs. of garden lettuce which we were not able to immediately distribute at WCHI. Fortunately, we used the Plant-A-Row community network and shared it with another local pantry that was distributing food the next day! As a reminder, any extra, fresh produce from your garden or orchard that you donate will first be distributed at our WCHI Pantry or at our Free Community Meals. If neither of these events will be taking place within a few days, your donation will be shared with local Plant-A-Row pantries that will be able to immediately distribute it. Nothing will go to waste. Fresh produce may be donated at Re/Max Unlimited and placed on the table in the foyer or give me a call me at 610-379-6823 to arrange for pick up. Have a great July and happy gardening! Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley (MOW), BrightStar Care of Stroudsburg & Allentown, and Compassionate Care Hospice partnered with Friends of Pete to present a “Spring into Giving Food Drive” to provide needed food items for the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative (WCHI) Food Pantry on May 18th from 4-7 PM. This event was held at the MOW’s location at 1302 N Sherman St, Allentown. The event also included 35 local business vendors, networking opportunities, snacks, prizes and tastings courtesy of Sherman Street Brewery and Tolino Vineyards. Many food donations also came from residents of the Midway Manor Housing Development across the street from MOW.
This was the 4th Food Pantry event MOW has hosted to provide much needed food to local Food Pantries. The other three prior Food Pantry Beneficiaries include: Allentown Ecumenical Food Pantry, Central Moravian Food Pantry, and Easton Area Neighborhood Center. MOW printed and distributed fliers for this event, which included the sponsors, the time and place of the event, and the needed food items from our WCHI website https://tinyurl.com/yc2vdns3 Food donations poured into the MOW parking lot for the entire three hours!! WCHI received cereal, instant oatmeal variety packs, pasta/spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, easy to open canned vegetables, canned chicken and tuna in water or pouches; reduced sodium chicken noodle and vegetable soups; canned beans; canned fruit and fruit cups in water or light syrup, plus other food items, and monetary donations. We also received a huge box of tote bags for our guests to shop at our Pantry from Patriot Home Care. WCHI also supports MOW by providing additional monthly food from our Pantry to 8-12 homebound MOW clients. Karen Haberern, a MOW representative, who is also a WCHI Volunteer and WCHI Board member, delivers the shelf stable food to these households. They are also included in our monthly food distribution household attendance numbers. Overall, MOW serves 2 adults and 67 seniors ranging from 38-98 years old in Whitehall and serves 11 seniors ranging from 61-92 years old in Coplay. An interesting fact is that MOW prepares and delivers 24,000 meals a month to their clients that live in their market area: Lehigh, Northampton, and lower Carbon Counties. For more info on Meals on Wheels, please go to https://mowglv.org I have known Erik McGaughey, when he was at the American Cancer Society, and I chaired the Relay for Life here in Whitehall back in 2012 and 2013. Erik is now the CEO of MOW since 2022. Congratulations, Erik!! He and I think a lot alike. Erik says “Changing one life is a big deal! With what is happening between the Food Panties and the work of Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley, we are changing neighborhoods, cities, and the entire greater Lehigh Valley.” And as I always say, “WCHI is making a huge difference in people’s lives.” Both Meals on Wheels and WCHI need more volunteers, more financial contributions, and we both want to be able to serve many, many more people who need our assistance. You too, can host a food drive for WCHI. We currently need canned fruit, canned tuna, any kind of pasta, and canned beans (kidney, black, pinto, chickpeas, etc) for our June and July food distributions. We are feeding close to 1,000 Whitehall and Coplay residents a month. These items can be dropped off at my Re/Max Unlimited Real Estate office, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall Monday through Friday 9am-5pm. Monetary donations are also appreciated. Make your check payable to WCHI or Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative and write food in the memo section and mail or drop off to me at my office mentioned above. WCHI is a 501c3 public charity and your donation may be tax deductible. Please check with your financial adviser. A big THANK YOU is extended to Meals on Wheels, and everyone associated with the fantastic food drive, held on May 18th at the MOW site. WCHI and all our guests thank you for your generosity and for being your selected Food Pantry this year!! Written by Gwen Herzog, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative’s Vegetable Garden Chair
What an amazing week we had at the WCHI garden! With the limited amount of rain recently, I was able to move the lawn mower deck down one notch and not stall out the mower. The groundhog re-opened the giant hole and once again, I was able to see it and avoid it. I refilled the hole with dirt, rocks, and the scrapings from underneath the mower deck. It appears that this critter has been feasting on our cauliflower and cabbage plants, but surprisingly not the Brussels sprouts. Earlier this year, we had a robin build a nest and lay eggs in one of the flower boxes on our garden shed. A couple of weeks back the eggs hatched and suddenly there were four babies. I have a fear of birds, but since mama robin flew away to the fence whenever I got near, I felt comfortable observing these little ones close up. Monday the nest was abandoned, so I want to believe mama took her babies elsewhere with less activity. Look for photos of the hatchlings on our WCHI Facebook page. On May 20th, Township Commissioner, Jeff Warren, graciously pressure washed the inside and outside of our water tank. Late last summer we experienced a small algae bloom and the inside of the tank became badly discolored. Jeff was committed to getting the tank looking good before it was filled this year. It took a lot of time and energy, but the tank looks GREAT. Thanks again, Jeff! Tuesday evening was our first garden work night. Thanks to our volunteers, we were able to remove boards and cardboard, prep beds, plant, weed, and water. Sue Butchinski planted the pepper, tomato, and eggplant plants. Sylvia Lee and Jenn Dietz cleared beds and weeded, Tom Noctor rototilled, and I planted zucchini and yellow squash seeds. Finally, we all watered everything. Look for new garden photos on our Facebook page. Wednesday evening the Hokey Fire Department delivered water into our newly cleaned tank. It may be another dry summer. Thank you to Mark Bilder and the entire Hokey Fire Department, now and in advance, for all the water they will deliver this year! On Tuesday evening May 30th, the garden work plan includes: thin the radish, red beet, and carrot seedlings, prep and plant additional beds, cage the tomato and pepper plants, plant sunflower and other flower seeds, weed, and water. We welcome garden volunteers, but clearances are required. Please see www.tinyurl.com/WCHIforms for more details. In May, WCHI’s Pantry provided food for almost 1,000 of our Whitehall and Coplay neighbors. Many of our guests tell us of the meals they will prepare using the fresh produce they receive. As you are planting your garden, why not plant an extra row or an extra plant and donate the vegetables to our Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative? All produce received will be distributed to our Pantry guests and given to our guests attending our Free Community Meals. You may drop your garden bounty at Shari Noctor’s Re/Max Unlimited office,1080 Schadt Avenue, Whitehall Monday-Friday 9-5. WCHI is also accepting any extra vegetable plants you may have. Call or text me 610-379-6823 to arrange for drop-off or pick up. Thank you in advance for all donations! This week we learned that Shari Noctor’s Re/Max office will also be a local drop off site for Plant-A-Row Lehigh Valley, an organization that works throughout our local communities to help gardeners find a place to take extra produce. We look forward to this opportunity! Finally, keep an eye out for our WCHI Garden Sign to be hung on our garden fence. You will be able to see it from the Ironton Rail Trail. Happy gardening! Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative (WCHI) is a PA Healthy food Pantry Initiative (PA HPI) as mentioned in previous newspaper articles. We strive to improve our Pantry food choices by offering low/no salt and low sugar food items, when possible. And we work closely with our Second Harvest Food Bank HPI Coordinator, Kim Slack, on a variety of healthy goals included food tastings and recipes during distribution days.
WCHI is also partnering with Penn State Extension Lehigh County to provide their FREE Nutrition Links program to our Pantry guests and others who qualify for the program. Julie Davitt, who is a Nutrition Education Adviser for Penn State and a WCHI Board member, will be teaching upcoming food educational classes. The Nutrition Links classes will be offered this summer and in October in the morning for 1.5 hours each for four consecutive weeks. The location will be in the white social building behind our Pantry at the end of the Church parking lot. More info will be posted on our FB page and on our website https://tinyurl.com/WCHIprograms in the coming weeks. This info comes directly from https://extension.psu.edu/nutrition-links “Participants in this free program complete in-person lessons featuring healthy eating tips on smart shopping, food preparation, and delicious recipes, as well as food safety lessons. Classes include hands-on activities and cooking demonstrations to reinforce the learning process. Our evaluation data demonstrates the effectiveness of the program's impact on participants' behaviors in food selection, dietary intake, management of resources, and food safety. Participants are taught how to make positive changes to achieve good nutrition and health; Control portion sizes; Practice food resource management skills; Practice food safety in preparation; Practice safe storage and handling of food; Increase physical activity. 93% of participants made positive dietary changes. 78% of participants showed improvement in food resource management practices. Nutrition Links provides research-based nutrition education to help people and families with limited resources enhance their nutrition, increase their physical activity, and develop life skills needed for self-sufficiency and better health. Our classes are a very rewarding experience for everyone, impacting the health and well-being of the entire family. We partner with many agencies in the community to enhance the services offered and reach the limited-resource audience. Nutrition Links is federally funded and supported by local resources/dollars. Funds come from the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). Nutrition Links Programs are for Families with young children (under the age of 19) living in either rural or urban areas who are responsible for the planning, purchasing, and preparing of the family's food; Pregnant women; Pregnant and Parenting Teens; School-age youth (5 - 19 years of age); Preschoolers and their parents.” For more information, please contact Julie Davit at jbd14@psu.edu Thank you and have a great week!! **Written by Gwen Herzog, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative’s Vegetable Garden Chair**
It was another amazing week at our food pantry! Guests were plentiful and all were treated to a taste of vegetarian chili made with both canned and fresh vegetables that could be obtained from the pantry this month. Our great volunteers were extremely busy checking in guests, shopping with guests, filling guests’ carts with refrigerated and frozen items, restocking shelves, and pushing carts up the ramp from the pantry to guests’ cars. I like to be busy, but by nightfall, I was ready for some down time to mentally prepare for Friday…AKA seed planting day. If you attended Family Night at Whitehall High School on Wednesday evening and happened to stop by our table, you may have seen the cabbage seedlings on display. As I wrote in my last article, our plan is to get the brassicas planted in early May and then get everything else planted after Mother’s Day. To minimize cost, we are starting our plants from seed. Of the brassica seeds planted, only the cabbage germinated. My Friday seed planting included three varieties of tomatoes, three types of sweet peppers, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, and a replanting of brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Each of the 26 containers was planted with 5-9 seeds, labeled, watered, and covered with a sheet of clear plastic to keep in the moisture and warmth to promote quick germination. This year’s seed starting is taking place in my sunroom on a 6’ folding table. You can see a photo of our seed starting project on the WCHI Facebook page. While we are waiting for our vegetable plants to go into the ground, garden cleanup is necessary. Last week I finally cut the “grass” between the beds. I place the word “grass” in quotes because the “grass” is mostly weeds. Speaking of weeds, the beds are loaded with lots and lots of lush, green weeds. Fortunately, we still have several weeks to get these cleared before it is time to get our plants into the ground. Tom Noctor has once again offered to be chief weeder. Thanks, Tom! This year we will also address a problem we had last year: Groundhogs! Last year it seemed these unruly critters were picking off our large tomatoes, taking a bite or two, abandoning it, and then picking another one. I’m sure it was a good time for the groundhogs, but it was frustrating for our garden team. While cutting the grass last week, I located a deep, 7” diameter groundhog hole with no visible exit. Fortunately for me, I found the hole before my foot did. I filled it with grass I scraped from under the mower deck and topped it off with weeds pulled from one of the beds, so we’ll see if the hole is still active on the next grass cutting day. We also have holes under our shed and our wide, metal fence makes it easy for any groundhog, squirrel, rabbit, etc. to freely enter and exit the garden. In our shed I found some additional, temporary fencing that can be attached to the bottom of the metal fence. We will try this as a critter barrier this year, close the groundhog holes, and cross our fingers that no other action will need to be taken to preserve our garden. I will keep you updated on our endeavors in future articles. Wish us luck! I hope your seed planting and garden prep is going well! Keep us in mind if you have any extra plants to share and if you have any available time to volunteer in the garden or inside the pantry. You can learn more about clearances required at https://tinyurl.com/WCHIforms Happy May!! WCHI is pleased to announce that at the end of April, we have been providing our Whitehall-Coplay low-income residents INSIDE Food Pantry distributions for 1 full year. Time sure does fly!! From January 2021 through April 2022 our selfless volunteers pre-packed all our food distribution items. We had multiple tables outside in the St John the Baptist parking lot with each table offering a different food type or toiletry items on our distribution days. Two lines of cars came through the parking lot for both our morning and evening distributions. Every guest received the same bagged items throughout the whole production line. WCHI opened our inside Food Pantry distributions on May 12, 2022. Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) is affiliated with 40 Food Pantries in Lehigh County and over 200 Pantries in a 6-county area. SHFB designated WCHI to be one of three Food Pantries in Lehigh County to be classified as a Healthy Choice Food Pantry, which includes providing guests with choices of low salt and low sugar items. On distribution days, our guests have pre-scheduled appointments. Volunteers register each household. Our volunteers then walk our guests through the Pantry with a shopping cart – just like they are in a grocery store. The guests select their food items, and their bagged items are then placed into our guest’s car. The number of items provided is based on the total number of people living in the household. Each household can select from canned fruit and vegetables; protein like canned tuna, chicken, salmon, beans & peanut butter; rice/pasta; ready to eat foods like Chef-Boyardee: cereal; grains; condiments; coffee; snacks; baby food; refrigerated food like milk, eggs, & cheese; frozen food; fresh produce; and personal hygiene products. Sometimes we have dog and cat food. All items are while they are available and while supplies last. WCHI’s Mission is to alleviate Food Insecurity in Whitehall and Coplay. Truly, many people that live in our area are hungry and some have little or no food. I have witnessed this myself. Please note our 1st Quarter 2023 Pantry attendance below. We are feeding almost 1,000 people a month. No one should be hungry or be without food. If you or someone you know needs food, please call 484-225-0358 to schedule an appointment. Please help us help them.
We need the following food items: canned peaches, chickpeas, and tuna; 1-lb bagged rice or rice sides; boxed mac & cheese and pasta. Food can be dropped or shipped to my Re/Max Unlimited Real Estate office, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall PA 18052 - Monday through Friday 9am-5pm. Our office staff no longer works on the weekends.
Monetary donations are also appreciated. Checks are payable to WCHI and can be dropped or mailed to Shari Noctor at the Re/Max Unlimited address above. **Submitted by Gwen Herzog, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative’s Vegetable Garden Chair**
Weeds are amazing plants! They grow when there is rain, they grow when there is drought, and some of them even grow throughout the dead of winter. I have noticed in my own garden that there are lush, green weeds that took hold sometime in mid-December. Currently, these weeds are competing with the encroaching grass, also green and lush, in a competition to take over my beds. For weeks now I have been telling myself, “One of these nice days I will pull those weeds and edge the grass.” Although intermittently we have had some warm weather, my “nice day” still has not arrived. When I bought my house, many of the beds had been previously neglected, so the yard actually went all the way up to the house. My dad helped me to get the beds cleared via shoveling and tilling. One of my friends who owns a landscape service added enriched topsoil to the beds and then we mulched to try to keep the weeds down. It worked pretty well, so the next year we added enriched soil and mulched again. Because weeding has never been my favorite part of summer, mulching remains my efficient but relatively expensive method for controlling garden weeds and keeping watering to a minimum. Eighteen years later, my beds are amazing. In my last article I shared with you that the Pantry Garden is located on part of the Mickley-Prydun Farm. While I am relatively new to the Whitehall area, many of you are probably familiar with this farm and you may have had the opportunity to eat some of the fruit, corn, and other vegetables grown on this rich farmland. When I started to volunteer at the Pantry Garden, I learned it was only the second year of the Garden’s existence. The Pantry Garden beds were absolutely loaded with weeds! One of our volunteers, Tom Noctor, pitchforked the beds to remove the weeds. Since the garden was still so new, it was understandable that the weeds and grass still held a stronghold, and it would take time to tame it. Fortunately, last year we had an amazing group of volunteers that spent one hour each Tuesday evening weeding the garden, watering as needed, and picking vegetables. By routinely maintaining our beds all summer, we were successful in getting and keeping the weeds under control. As a result, our vegetable plants had plenty of space to grow and ultimately provided a large amount of produce for our Pantry guests. I anticipate that we will have lots of weeds and grass in our beds this spring, but by following the same or a similar maintenance routine as last year, we will get our beds into tip-top shape. Don’t forget, garden volunteers are always needed! No experience is necessary, but you must have your clearances. You can learn more about obtaining clearances at the Whitehall Coplay Hunger Initiative website at www.whitehallcoplayhungerinitiative.org. 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.
BINGO - WCHI will be offering bingo at St Peter Roman Catholic Church, 4 South 5th St, Coplay April 2nd on Palm Sunday. 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. This is our last WCHI bingo until September 10th. Questions and reservations, please call Liz Rodgers, Program Chair, 484-274-6687 FREE COMMUNITY MEALS -- WCHI, partnering with the Faith-Based Community and others, 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 4:00-6:00pm. Meals are guaranteed for the first 100 guests and will be an inside sit-down meal at the host locations. There are no more takes out meals. WCHI will post a meal reminder on Facebook and Instagram and send a text to out Pantry guests. We do not have a meal on April 2nd due to the Palm Sunday Holiday. Our next free meal is on Tuesday, April 18th at Redeemed Christian Church of God, 5 N 3rd St, Coplay 610-262-8993. Questions about hosting a meal for 2024 or guests wanting more info, please call Karen Haberern, Program Chair, at 610-730-3184. FOOD DRIVES—THANK YOU to our local Community members who have done or who currently are hosting food drives for WCHI with their friends, churches, housing subdivisions, service clubs, businesses, youth groups, boys & girl scouts, schools, etc. You can too!! Please call 484-225-0358 or register your food drive at https://tinyurl.com/WCHIdrive so we are aware and can thank you. MONETARY DONATIONS--are appreciated and can be made payable to 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. 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. |
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