Editor’s note: The following story was submitted for the Shaler Area Student Section, a collaboration between TribLive and The Oracle, the student newspaper of Shaler Area High School.
Every year, Shaler Area High School conducts a food drive to help support Bread of Life, a food pantry in Etna.
This year, students collected 2,306 items, the most they have ever collected. All items were sent to Bread of Life to help serve families in the Shaler Area community.
The pantry had been under grueling demand throughout the government shutdown and cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, so the donation may have been more crucial than ever.
Bread of Life got its start in 1989, after a big flood devastated parts of Etna. To meet the needs of the community, Calvert Memorial Presbyterian Church started a small food bank with grab bags. It slowly turned into a much larger food pantry that serves many families in the Shaler area today.
“In October, we served 122 families, which is about our average. That is equated to 269 people,” said Alexis Weber, who manages the Bread of Life pantry.
In November, Bread of Life provided a Thanksgiving meal, including a turkey, to 150 families because of everyone’s help.
To help keep the pantry running, there are two administrators, Weber and her assistant, as well as about 50 volunteers. The dedicated group follows a steady routine.
On Mondays, volunteers pick up food from Whole Foods in McCandless. On Tuesdays, they pick up from Shop ’n Save, Aldi and Sheetz. Another team of volunteers stocks the shelves and makes sure nothing is expired. Wednesdays are the “shopping days” when people can come in and get food. There are shopping volunteers who help people gather what they need but also make sure they don’t take too much. There is a morning, afternoon and evening hours to shop. More volunteers work at the front and help people put the groceries into their car or even push their cart and help them walk home.
“They come out with probably about $300 worth, maybe more, worth of food,” Weber said.
Bread of Life is a market system food pantry, meaning families can come in and pick what they want, just like a normal grocery store. Shopping days are once a week, but families can only come and get food once a month, unless there is an emergency situation.
“We do take emergency people who aren’t from the area. I can’t send them home with no food, so until they can get back to their own food bank, we’ll do that,” Weber said.
Bread of Life tries to provide any type of food families could want. They have nonperishables such as pasta, rice, cereal, and canned fruits and vegetables. They also try to provide fresh bread, milk, chicken, ground beef and vegetables such as potatoes, onions, peppers and celery.
Bread of Life also does its best to recognize that the people they serve have different backgrounds and eat different things.
“We get a lot of Middle Eastern families, so we try to buy halal so they can have meat, too,” Weber said.
Halal is an Arabic word that means “permissible” or “lawful.” In the Islamic religion, meat must be slaughtered the right way in order to be lawful to eat.
Bread of Life cares about their families. It’s important to them that the families feel seen and that they are getting everything they want and need. Weber is constantly looking for feedback, asking families how they like the food bank, what else they want and what could be better.
Along with that, they also provide nonfood items. They have plenty of baby supplies, including diapers, wipes and formula. There is a whole shelf dedicated to personal items such as shampoo and body wash, cleaning products, toothpaste, toilet paper, dish soap and feminine products. They also try to keep dog and cat food in stock.
“We do a lot, not just feed people,” Weber said.
Building relationships with the families is one of the most important parts of the food bank for Weber, who wants to make Bread of Life more than just a place to get food.
“I try to make sure that if it’s a special month, we recognize it. For example, it was just Veterans Day. We baked homemade cookies, and we gave them each a lottery card. We had them all stand up and everybody claps. You know, it’s nice.”
They do something similar anytime there is a special day. For Mother’s Day, there are extra raffles and they get lottery tickets.
During the pandemic, a volunteer lawyer would come in and talk to people about their struggles, and older nurses would do simple things like take people’s blood pressure.
They have a small bin of toys on-site, and volunteers will hand out toys to young children to play with as they wait in line for food.
“I just feel so bad. It’s just such a long wait so we try to have little toys for them,” Weber said.
Bread of Life also has an annual Santa shop. Many of the families don’t have the means to buy a lot of gifts for Christmas, so people donate all kinds of toys. Families can come in and pick gifts they want for their children.
Weber wants to make a big impact on these families’ lives. For her, food is not enough. She really tries to provide anything the families need.
“We know these people. Most of these people have been with us for a long time. You talk to them, see how they’re doing. It’s not just ‘come in, hurry and shop.’ ”
Since building relationships is a big part of the goal, the government shutdown was so hard because Weber was doing all she could to help these families she cares so deeply for but the demand was so high.
“This has been the second hardest thing, and I’m more angry about this. Covid was just something that happened. That’s nature, but this was man-made,” Weber said.
Weber has been at Bread of Life for 12 years, and this is the worst crisis she has ever seen, second only to the pandemic. During the government shutdown, 42 million people nationwide lost access to SNAP benefits. With no money to go shopping, food banks were in high demand.
Bread of Life covers a wide area, supporting families in Shaler, Etna, Millvale and Reserve. They buy some food with money from their grants and donations, but donating food also is a huge help, which is why the food drive at Shaler Area High School is so impactful.
While the government is back up and running and SNAP benefits have resumed, many families may start to lose their benefits over the next few years because of new eligibility rules. Food banks do so much to help families stay on their feet.
“No person that walks in here leaves without food,” Weber said.
To learn more about Bread of Life or to make a donation, visit the Bread of Life website at breadoflifeetna.org.
To help
Nonperishable items for the Bread of Life Food Pantry can be dropped off from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays at the pantry, 94 Locust St., Etna. If a more convenient time is needed, call the pantry at 412-781-3056 or email breadoflifeetna@gmail.com.
The pantry provides a variety of nonperishable food items as well as paper products, diapers and other baby essentials, pet food, personal hygiene products and cleaning products.
For a list of most-needed items, visit breadoflifeetna.org/food-and-basic-needs. The page includes a link to an Amazon wish list, where items can be purchased and sent directly to the pantry.