SPECIAL DELIVERY
Holiday dinners — and then some — for 300 families
Three hundred cartons of eggs … 300 boxes of butter.
It was still dark on Friday morning at the Branch Life Church as Bob Diehl, Jeff Elwanger and Brad Haring moved swiftly along row after row of boxes, 300 in all, adding last-minute perishables.
Already the boxes had more than two dozen other items: Stuffing mix … gravy … cranberry sauce … green beans … corn.
Outside, volunteers began unloading 300 hams, 300 turkeys and 300 gallons of milk from a large box truck.
Christmas dinner, and then some, for 300 Pottstown-area families in need was on the way.
The Pottstown Area Children’s Foundation provides holiday meals as an adjunct to its children’s Christmas party, held the week before. Each year, the effort grows.
One of the first to arrive when pick-up began at 7 a.m. was Nakeya Brannan, a home care worker with four children who has lost many clients during the pandemic. “It’s hard,” she said. “Really hard. But this will help.”
In the months before, as Steve Schmidt, chairman of the foundation’s food committee, watched food prices go higher and higher, he began to worry. Would the group have enough funds? What about the sluggish supply chain?
But the board decided that it was not only going to include as much food as last year but was also going to include more. Higher food prices meant families would need even more help.
So they set to work, raising money.
In addition to numerous other donors, Costco, Wegman’s, Walmart and the Wawa Foundation came through with funds, food or both.
The biggest boost came from Giant, which donated $5,000, and the foundation gave it right back, spending it all at the Upland Square store. One of its assistant managers, Theresa Man
ieri, helped even more by making sure lesserpriced store brand items would be available in the quantities the foundation needed.
Manieri said it was important to remember the true meaning of the season and to “share our gratitude for the abundance we have. We are grateful to partner with the Pottstown Area Children’s Foundation to support each other’s mission to end hunger in the Pottstown area.”
Pancake mix … syrup … peanut butter … jelly … bread.
Some 61 boxes were loaded into vans for families that Women on the Move Mission had identified as being in need. “Without this, some might not eat,” said the group’s founder, Regina Astheimer. “They might not tell us. They might be too proud. But that’s what would happen.”
More and more cars came. More and more boxes were loaded.
“We need two more milks!”
“I can fit another ham in here!”
A few days earlier, Costco had given the group a surprise addition of 100 turkeys. How to keep them cold? Branch Life Pastor Josh Park just happened to know that Camp Sackanac, a nondenominational Christian camp and retreat facility down the road, had big freezers. So the turkeys took a detour. And people getting boxes also got quizzed: “Do you need another turkey? Do you know anyone else who needs one?”
“What I love about this is that it’s every corner of the community coming together to help our neighbors,” Park said. “We believe we’re better together. We can do more together.”
Soup … mac and cheese … Tastykakes … juice … cereal.
One of the mainstays, year after year, has been the members of the United Auto Workers Local 644 at Dana Inc. and U.S. Axle. Jim Frymoyer worked at Dana when he began the holiday project 39 years ago. Although he has retired, the union still participates, and both
“What I love about this is that it’s every corner of the community coming together to help our
neighbors. We believe we’re better together. We can do more together.”
— Branch Life Church Pastor Josh Park
companies donate.
“It’s almost like a tradition at this point,” said member George Gantert.
The UAW holds 50/50 drawings to raise money. They donate gifts. And they always send a crew to help with the food boxes.
“Everyone loves doing it,” said Matt Slobodin, president of the local union. “It’s a way to give back to the community, and a way to keep everyone together at the shop.”
Frymoyer wasn’t able to be at this year’s event because of an illness. But he stayed involved by phone.
“We’re going to make next year even better,” he vowed.
Peaches … fruit cup … pudding … hot chocolate … potato chips.
Wearing her best elf bling and cap, Karen Reed, who has been part of the effort almost since the beginning, paused from loading cars. “I’m elated that able to reach so many people,” she said. “We keep finding more and more people who are in need.”
Pastor Ron Rivera, of the Royersford Church of the Nazarene, picked up 25 boxes, many for people who have recently been homeless or who have lost their homes to fire.
“It’s not just a meal to them,” Rivera said. “It’s a holiday.”