Thank you to everyone who has supported Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative, either through volunteering their time, informing family, friends, neighbors and co-workers we are here to help food-insecure households in Whitehall and Coplay or providing generous monetary and food donations that keep our pantry shelves stocked for monthly distributions. We cannot accomplish our mission without that continued support!

In 2022, we obtained and distributed 321,048 pounds of food from Second Harvest Food Bank - 177,439 pounds in January to June 2022 and 143,609 pounds in July to December 2022.

Second Harvest converts pounds to meals using the Feeding America recommendation of 1.2 pounds per meal. With that said, WCHI served 267,540 meals with Second Harvest.

WCHI also received additional monetary and food donations from our local community. We purchased food we cannot obtain from Second Harvest with public monetary donations.

In 2022, WCHI served 10,047 residents registered within our computer program. This total includes repeat guests who came every month, some who came periodically and some who now no longer come since they do not require any more food assistance or have moved outside the area.

Our guests are genuinely grateful our pantry is open to help them. A WCHI volunteer helps them shop, and they may take certain amounts of food items based on the number of people living in their household.

We provide canned fruit, canned vegetables, protein (such as canned fish, beans and peanut butter), rice or pasta, ready-to-eat foods, cereal, grains, condiments, coffee, snacks, baby food, refrigerated and frozen food, fresh produce and personal hygiene products.

WCHI has been watching, planning, projecting and now confirming with January’s pantry attendance that many more households are facing hunger than what we have experienced before. We are expecting to feed around 1,000 guests this month. The January-June 2022 average was 813 guests attending our pantry per month. The August-December 2022 average was 867 guests per month.

Reasons for these increases are the constant upturn in gas and food prices, utility bills, rents and real estate taxes. WCHI is also experiencing food supply shortages from Second Harvest and higher prices at the grocery stores when WCHI purchases food items.

We truly need and request our community’s help - faith-based communities, schools/school clubs, service clubs, housing subdivisions, businesses and individuals - to do one or several food drives for us as we get through 2023.

Also, we ask anyone moving out of the area, going to assisted living or nursing homes and households where people have passed away to donate canned and unopened box food items as long as they did not expire.

Items we need are on our website at tinyurl.com/WCHIPantryList. We do not accept refrigerated, frozen and bakery items from the public.

Items needed include boxed mashed potatoes, canned beans (such as black, chickpeas, lentils, lima, red kidney, string beans, etc.), canned fruit (except applesauce), canned tuna, salmon and chicken, canned pasta (such as Chef Boyardee, Beefaroni and ravioli), non-sweet cereal (like Cheerios and Rice Krispies), condiments (such as ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and relish), ground coffee, Hamburger Helper, macaroni and cheese boxes, oatmeal packets/boxes, pancake mix, pancake syrup, peanut butter, rice bags and boxes (plain or flavored), rice and pasta sides (such as Knorr pasta or rice packets), soup varieties (including chunky and chicken soups - no vegetable or cream soups needed), Stove Top stuffing and tomato or spaghetti sauce in cans or plastic jars.

Donations may be shipped to or dropped off at Re/Max Unlimited Real Estate, 1080 Schadt Ave., Whitehall, 18052.

Please leave donations inside the foyer on the right, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays. Monetary donations should be made payable to WCHI.