Communities That Care. Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative. Whitehall and Coplay food pantries.

These are three outstanding groups that work very hard to help residents in the Whitehall and Coplay communities. I will briefly describe each one so that you have a better understanding as to what each group does.

Communities That Care (CTC) is a framework for assessing, analyzing, interpreting and addressing the risk and protective factors within communities. Our CTC was started in 2011 with a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. This enabled us to see the risk factors that were affecting our students in the Whitehall-Coplay School District. Data was analyzed from the results of the 2013 - and recently 2015 - State PA Youth Survey (PAYS) given to sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders every two years.

The CTC’s mission is to enhance and support the mission of our school district by developing cohesive relationships with community partners. Our current priorities are to teach young people about the dangers of substance abuse; support parents in their efforts to keep their children safe from drugs and alcohol; build a community that provides youth opportunities for success; reduce food insecurity and hunger; and increase career awareness. CTC implements programs, policies and practices that help shape thinking, attitudes and behaviors around our priorities. For example, you may have seen these CTC signs around town - “Parents Who Host Lose the Most.”

Who makes up the CTC? Many residents and business leaders like you, the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University, Penn State Extension, Whitehall-Coplay School District administrators, school counselors, the mayors of Whitehall and Coplay, local clergy, Whitehall Police Department, Lehigh County Office of Children and Youth, Lehigh County Juvenile Probation, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Whitehall Township Parks and Recreation, youth and family-serving organizations, Lehigh County Information and Referral, Whitehall Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Denise Continenza, from Penn State Extension, oversees this wonderful group of hardworking people trying to help our youth grow into responsible young adults. The CTC meets monthly, usually the third Friday, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Faith Lutheran Church, 3355 MacArthur Road in Whitehall. On Nov. 18, there will be a presentation from Kyle Longacre, assistant principal at Souderton Area High School. Longacre coordinates the Pathways 360 career awareness project in his school district. Having a sense of direction after high school is critical for life success and avoidance of problem behaviors, such as crime and drug abuse. For more information on CTC, contact Denise at dhc128@psu.edu.

The Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative evolved as a result of the CTC’s efforts to address hunger in our community. I became a member of CTC in 2014. I was saddened to hear that 16.1 percent of the sixth-graders from the 2013 PAYS worried where their next meal was coming from. I have worked in this township as a realtor since 1994 and never knew that the hunger need was so high. More than half of the school district participates in the free and reduced lunch program. Superintendent Dr. Lorie Hackett and the school board saw the need, from the CTC data and other internal factors, to start the free school breakfast program in 2015.

The Hunger Initiative has become so large and has added many programs that we now are independent from CTC. However, I am still a liaison member of CTC, and both JoAnn Fedor and Joyce Wheeler are also members of both groups. Our initiative has many residents, businesses, many in the faith community, both mayors and some commissioners from Whitehall and Copay, and both Chambers all working hard to alleviate the hunger insecurity we face here in Whitehall and Coplay.

We have organized free community meals (which has grown from 13 people in January to 125 people in October), Snack Pack Pals for kindergarten through eighth grades, a gardening program and educational programs to show people how to purchase and cook healthy meals. We also help promote Senior Boxes through Second Harvest, and we support both our local food pantries that I will talk about shortly. One of the biggest projects we are working on for 2017 is starting a free breakfast or lunch program when school lets out in June.

Our Hunger Initiative is committed to helping our community where we can. You are more than welcome to attend our meetings, which are held at Faith Lutheran Church on the fourth Tuesday of the month, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. You can email me at shari@sharinoctor.com to be placed on our master email list, and you will then receive minutes from our meetings and anything else I share with our group.

There are many hungry people right here in Whitehall and Coplay - many more than you might realize or want to acknowledge. Both food pantries are sadly underserving those in need because people don’t want others to know they are in need. If you or someone you know needs help, please have them call one of the pantries. They are here to help you.

The real sadness here is that hungry people look like everyone else, and they do not want people to know they are struggling. Most of these people are working two jobs to try to make ends meet. Many try so hard, and their income is slightly over (sometimes $500 or less) the mandated caps to qualify for any sort of government assistance. Unfortunately, these people fall through the cracks. Young kids, youth and adults, including seniors, are really struggling. This is a huge, silent issue in Whitehall and Coplay. We really are here to alleviate hunger.

Food is one of the most basic needs of life. Please help your neighbors, family, friends and co-workers by mentioning what we do and to have them contact us.

The Whitehall Food Pantry, located in St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 3900 Mechanicsville Road, Whitehall, serves 200 adults including 35 seniors and 114 children a month on average. That is 349 people a month. They serve different people every Monday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and are scheduled by appointment. Pantry food comes from Second Harvest, local grocery stores, church parishioners, residents and businesses. Doreen Wagner oversees the pantry and can be reached at 610-443-0503.

The Coplay Food Pantry is located in the Coplay Borough Municipal Building, 98 S. Fourth St., Coplay. It serves 20 people a month on the second Tuesday, 8:30-10 a.m. The food mainly comes from donations from church parishioners, residents and businesses. Louise Kren oversees the pantry and can be reached at 610-262-9351.

Both food pantries are really in dire need of all kinds of food, including soups (not tomato), juice, pancake mix and syrup, jelly, peanut butter, canned peas, tuna/canned meat, noodles for soup, instant mashed potatoes, pasta/rice side dishes, canned pasta like canned ravioli and Chef Boyardee, hamburger/tuna helper, healthy snacks, any brand of coffee and small packs (10-20 bags) of tea and hot chocolate. They are also in need of deodorant, brushes and combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, feminine products, baby and adult diapers, and winter clothing, coats and boots.

For both Thanksgiving and Christmas, Coplay needs turkeys, chickens and hams. Whitehall purchases these from local grocery stores with funds donated throughout the year. You also can send a check payable to the Whitehall or Coplay pantries at the locations mentioned. Just put Wagner’s or Kren’s name on the envelope.

The Whitehall pantry is also in need of warm clothing, coats, boots, hats, scarves, gloves, etc. Coplay only works with food.

A big thank you goes out to the local Boy Scouts who are doing a food drive for both pantries Nov. 12. Please donate as much as you can.

If you have any questions, contact Shari Noctor at 610-266-5241 or shari@sharinoctor.com or the people listed above.