STUDENT PITCHES IN TO HELP FOOD BANK

Westmoreland County Food Bank will be getting a little more help collecting donations Saturday from a junior at Franklin Regional High School who believes “kindness matters.”

Garrett Deller, a student athlete and member of the National Honor Society, has volunteered at the Mother of Sorrows food pantry in Murrysville since he was a freshman. He now volunteers directly with the county food bank.

“Another volunteer expressed concern that donations were down since the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mr. Deller. “So I put together a letter for our neighborhood group, then sent it to the school and others in the community for help.”

The result was the formation of the Westmoreland Families Against Hunger, whose motto is “kindness matters.”

“Kindness matters, and kindness is what we need most these days,” Mr. Deller wrote in the letter to the community.

The Saturday food drive is from 9 a.m. to noon at the Westmoreland Farms Clubhouse parking lot. Donations can be dropped off then or picked up from home between 2 and 5 p.m. Masks and social distancing are expected.

The call for help circulated around the Westmoreland Farms neighborhood in Murrysville before gaining attention across the district and on social media.

Mr. Deller’s mission is to make donating simpler by offering pickup services and drop-off hours on the weekend. Due to the pandemic, the number of families in need has increased, while the number of donations has decreased.

The food bank typically serves between 7,000 and 7,500 families in the county each month. But since the pandemic began, they have served about 9,500 households, or 18,500 individuals, per month.

Each fall, the organization hosts two food drives: The Fall Food Share and Hunger Action Month food drive. But because of pandemic restrictions, neither event took place this year.

“We’re down about 100,000 pounds that we’d normally get from those food drives,” said Gina Colosimo, director of Volunteers and Food Drives at the food bank.

“Every little bit helps,” said Ms. Colosimo. “We’re so happy that he’s taking on this initiative and doing this food drive.”

Mr. Deller and the Westmoreland Families Against Hunger are looking this weekend for the food bank’s most needed items — canned meat, peanut butter, and canned or boxed meals.

“What sets this apart from other food drives is that they offered a pickup service for their food drives,” Ms. Colosimo said. “That’s a little added perk for individuals.”

“I’d like to continue it even after graduating,” said Mr. Deller, pointing out that he started the WFAH without realizing he could use the hours he spent organizing as community service credit for the National Honor Society. But he said serving people in need was more important than credit.