Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
IMPORTANT WORK
More people turning to food cupboard for holidays this year
WEST CHESTER » Everyone can make a difference.
And no one should ever suffer from hunger.
The West Chester Food Cupboard has worked to help people in need overcome hardship. These days, people are experiencing financial woes more than ever with millions of people out- of- work nationwide in wake of the ongoing 2020 pandemic crisis.
On average, the West Chester Food Cupboard serves 625 families every month, according to Joe Fratinardo, who serves as the nonprofit’s board president.
The West Chester Food Cupboard works to help anyone in Pennsylvania. Many of the individuals who come for food are elderly citizens.
In 2019, the food cupboard had 1,875 individuals registered for help.
In contrast, by early November 2020, 2,266 people had registered for assistance.
Family support has also increased, with the nonprofit helping 1,613 registered households in 2020, compared to assisting 1,271 households in 2019.
When the pandemic began, Fratinardo said the cupboard began serving people threedaysa- week and began assisting clients, who called for help, six- days- a- week. Concurrently, the in- person, walk- in pantry
is closed to the public. Instead, there is now a drivethrough system, in order to reduce social contact, for food distribution.
People registered with the West Chester Food Cupboard receive two weeks of groceries, free- of- charge, every month. Items include nonperishable goods plus fresh produce, dairy and meat products.
Enacted in 2009 and incorporated into a registered nonprofit organization in 2012, a key tenet of the West Chester Food Cupboard is that no one should go hungry.
The charity accepts cash
donations and food donations, plus essential supply donations, to support the people of West Chester, and elsewhere, who live in poverty and are struggling to feed themselves and their families. People with lowincomes may also register for support.
The nonprofit is at 431 S. Bolmar Street in West Chester. Known as the Cupboard, everyone who works for the nonprofit does so as volunteers only.
The West Chester Food Cupboard has no paid staff. Instead, volunteers led the way with a seven- person member Board of Directors and a lead volunteer team composed of 14 individuals. Further, the nonprofit has over 150 volunteers who carry out important
tasks such as distributing food and organizing donated goods.
Fratinardo became board president in 21017. He said several grocery stores and businesses that sell food donate perishable items to the cupboard to help feed the hungry. Some private foundations also donate, he said.
He said 20 volunteers have official roles while others volunteer to distribute food.
As president of the board, he concentrates his energy on outreach, finances and of course, stocking the shelves with donated goods. It is all important work. The cupboard gives away 25,000 pounds of food to people in need every week, Fratinardo said.
He said the compassionate
reaction from the community to donate blew him away during the first several months of the pandemic.
“It was just astronomical,” Fratinardo said.
Now with the return of fall and the holidays, winter is just around the counter.
Despite the unknown nature of 2020, given its ‘ unprecedented’ nature to bring havoc, the need to help others, feed the hungry, and love one another remains the crux of charitable work in Chester County for volunteers like Fratinardo.
Every act of kindness counts.
To make a donation to support the West Chester Food Cupboard, an allvolunteer nonprofit, visit: https:// westchesterfoodcupboard. org.