Local charities benefit from Wireless Zone donations
Jeff Swackhammer, the owner of seven Wireless Zone stores in Western Pennsylvania, knows a lot of people need help during the COVID-19 pandemic. But where to start?
“We zeroed in on unemployment and food insecurity,” said Mr. Swackhammer, a Wireless Zone franchisee with 85-90 employees.
Through the company’s Foundation of Giving, the Mars resident has given $2,000 each to seven charities in Pittsburgh, Oakmont, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, Butler County, Washington, Pa., and Morgantown, W.Va. Some of the agencies “are so small and so local we wouldn’t have known about them without input from our employees,” he said.
Wireless Zone stores are part of Verizon Wireless and sell Verizon products and services.
Across the country, 171 charities are receiving $409,000, said Shelley Nemic, president of the Foundation for Giving. Wireless Zone, which has 400 franchised stores across the nation, has been donating since 2003, “but it’s especially nice to be able to give back in these trying times,” she said.
The $2,000 donation will buy $20,000 worth of food at the Westmoreland County Food Bank, said Jennifer Miller, its CEO. “Our buying power is 10 times higher than the average consumer.”
Food bank volunteers have worked throughout the pandemic to safely package and distribute food to needy families. The need was highest in April when 9,000 households received food. Last month, 7,000 families were served, “which is about normal,” Ms. Miller said.
One of the smaller recipients is The Blessing Board in Oakmont. Hannah Kielmeier, manager of the Wireless Zone store in Oakmont, knows it well.
“Six years ago, when I was young and my daughter was 2 years old, we were moving and didn’t have much,” Ms. Kielmeier said. “The Blessing Board gave us a refrigerator and a stove. It helped us get on our feet.”
The Blessing Board stores in Oakmont and McKeesport provide free furniture and household furnishings to people in need. Last year, 1,543 families received free furniture and appliances as well as pots, pans and linens. The charity relies on donations of cash and household items. It will pick up large appliances and furniture at donors’ homes for a fee that starts at $60, said executive director Rich Garland.
Recipients ask for as many as 300 mattresses a month, he said, noting that Levin Furniture is a big donor. Donated mattresses and furniture must be free of stains and odors; they are cleaned and sanitized before they’re given to families.
The other agencies to receive Wireless Zone donations are:
• The Woodland Hills Foundation, which provides scholarships and minigrants to the public school district and its 12 municipalities: Braddock, Braddock Hills, Chalfant, Churchill, East Pittsburgh, Edgewood, Forest Hills, North Braddock, Rankin, Swissvale, Turtle Creek and Wilkins.
• Washington City Mission is a “Christ-centered, rehabilitative homeless shelter” in Washington County, according to its website.
• The Lighthouse Foundation in Middlesex, Butler County, is a Christian nonprofit that offers a food pantry, transitional housing, an emergency shelter, adult education and lowcost vehicles.
• City Rescue Mission in New Castle, Lawrence County, serves meals on site, provides a food pantry and has emergency shelters for men and women and children.
• Christian Help is a faith-based nondenominational agency in Morgantown, W.Va., that responds in emergencies and has a food pantry, a free store with housewares and a Career Closet that provides clothes for working people.