Shari's Update - 3/13/22

Our next Free Community Meal will be this Tuesday, March 15th from 4:00-6:30 pm at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church, 618 Fullerton Ave, Whitehall. Guests have the option of sitting down for the meal or doing take out.  The meal is Shepherd’s Pie.  The meal is guaranteed for the first 100 guests.  Questions, please call 610-266-0695
 
Please note:  We do not have any meals scheduled for April 3rd, April 19th, or May 1st.  If any faith based organization is willing to do a meal on any of these days, please call me asap.  Thank You..
 
WCHI had a sunny and warm day on March 10th for our Pantry Food Distribution.  We all were so glad it snowed and rained the day before.  We provided our guests with food and toiletries non-stop for both the morning and the evening distributions.  WCHI is very happy to be helping so many households during these tough times.  Our guests are all on fixed incomes and these escalating commodity prices are reducing their available money left for food, gas, medicine, rent, property taxes, and car/property insurance. 
 
Both WCHI and our guests are thrilled we have a Pantry to help our low income residents. THANK YOU, Monsignor Gobitas, St John the Baptist Church, and the Diocese of Allentown!!!  On 3/10/22, WCHI served 241 households comprised of 884 residents; 369 children, 375 adults, and 140 seniors (age 60+); Morning distribution 179 households, Evening Distribution 62 households; and we also registered 31 new households.
 
Several times a year, I like to share our opening day data as a comparison. When we opened last year on 1/11/21, we served and registered 91 households comprised of 308 residents; 113 children, 141 adults, and 54 seniors.  We have come a long way and are so grateful we can help so many residents in need. They all are so appreciative.
 
We can never help so many people without our wonderful, dedicated volunteers of all ages.  WCHI needs more volunteers to help us with all of our programs including, but not limited to: our Food Pantry, Garden at Mickley-Prydun Farm, Children's Summer Feeding Program, Mickley Run Apartment Outreach, and our Snack Pack Pals program at both the Whitehall-Coplay School District and at St Elizabeth’s Regional School.  We have day and evening opportunities available year round.  We do have volunteers that help with all our programs and others who only work with certain ones.   If you can volunteer, we would greatly appreciate it. 
 
WCHI does require several clearances, which are not hard to complete. Most of them can be completed on-line and you go at your own pace.  You will need a computer with internet access.  Whitehall and Coplay libraries have computers you can use. There are additional clearances if you are a Catholic parishioner since our Pantry is located on Church property, whether you volunteer at our Pantry or at one of our off site programs.  Once you have adult clearances, they are good for 5 years.   And there are minimal clearances required if you are a student, 12-17 years old.
 
Note:  Our bi-monthly Free Community Meal requirements, if any, will be at the sole discretion of the host meal site. None of the WCHI requirements pertain to our Community Meal Program. Please review our required clearances at https://tinyurl.com/WCHIforms    Also, please sign-up at   https://tinyurl.com/WCHIvolunteer  so we know you are interested in becoming a WCHI volunteer.  Once our Volunteer Coordinator, Sylvia Lee, receives all your clearances, she will place you our volunteer opportunity schedule.  Volunteer questions, please contact Sylvia at [email protected]  
 
WCHI Needs Toiletry Items for our Pantry guests which include:  Baby and Adult Diapers, Feminine Products, Shampoo & Conditioner, Men’s and Women’s razors, and men’s shaving cream.  All Donations are appreciated and may be shipped or dropped off at Re/Max Unlimited Real Estate, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall, PA 18052.  Please leave your donations inside the foyer on the right, Monday through Friday 9AM- 5PM, Saturday 9AM-1PM & Sunday 10AM-1PM.    Note: We do appreciate donated food items.  However, donated refrigerated, frozen, perishable or homemade items WILL NOT be accepted due to food safety liability reasons.