Second Harvest Food Bank provides Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative with many food items for the pantry. We cannot feed all our guests without its support.

Second Harvest member pantries, like WCHI, select food items supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and local store donations.

These Second Harvest items are for 200 agencies in six counties. The number of post-COVID items from Second Harvest has decreased from more than 250 food choices a month now to food choices between 75 and 110 a month.

WCHI relies on Second Harvest, federal and county grant funds, public monetary and food donations and food drives to provide food for our guests. Without these sources, WCHI cannot feed as many guests as we do. We add at least 20 new households a month.

Sue Butchinski, a WCHI board member and dedicated pantry volunteer, developed a wonderful plan to help us obtain the needed pantry items we are purchasing monthly. She suggested we ask help from the Whitehall and Coplay faith-based community, commercial businesses, social organizations, school clubs and the public to select one item listed below. She asked her church - First Presbyterian of Hokendauqua - to be the “pasta church.” More than one group can purchase pasta.

Butchinski is now also the public donation chair. Please call her at 484-767-6022 to let her know what you would like to collect for WCHI, how often and how many items. Several groups can select the same item or more than one. Your group does not need to provide these items monthly.

WCHI served 1,029 people in November 2023 and 1,128 people in December 2023. We like to have 300 or more of each of the items most selected by our pantry guests.

These items include cereal; canned chickpeas, beans, peas, corn and diced tomatoes; rice; any kind of pasta; any kind of chunky, cream, tomato or noodle soup; and spaghetti sauce, canned or in a plastic jar. These items can be store brands.

WCHI’s goal is to have the public help provide us the amount of food items we need, so WCHI can stock our shelves to help feed our guests.

Another great program offered through WCHI is the senior food box program, which works to improve the health of low-income seniors - 60 years old or older - by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA foods. This program was implemented by WCHI in November 2022, and we served 17 individuals.

Since its implementation, we are now serving 80 seniors, and it continues to grow. The senior boxes do not provide a complete diet but are meant to supplement a senior diet with good sources of nutrients often lacking in diets of older adults.

A typical 35-pound box contains nonfat dry or shelf-stable fluid milk, juice, oats, ready-to-eat cereal, rice, pasta, dry beans, peanut butter, canned meat, poultry or fish and canned fruits and vegetables. A block of processed cheese is also included.

The qualifying income guidelines to receive a senior box are lower than those for the pantry. The total monthly income must include all the individuals living in a household. For example, a household size of one person can have a maximum monthly income of $1,580 to qualify. In a four-person household, the maximum monthly income for all four individuals must be at or below $3,250 to qualify and receive a box.

If there is more than one senior living in a household and the household qualifies, each senior is eligible for a box if wanted. A separate registration form must be completed for each senior.

The registration form requires the names of each person living in the household along with their birth dates. Proof of birth date, such as a driver’s license or ID card, is required for each senior receiving a box. A senior does not need to obtain monthly food from the pantry in order to qualify.

Call Gail, the senior box food program chair, at 610-351-6412 for any questions.

WCHI is committed to helping as many low-income Whitehall and Coplay residents as possible who qualify for both the pantry and senior box food program. We also include homebound and mobility-impaired residents.

Spread the word through your faith-based bulletins and tell your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. We want to help!

Thank you, Sue and Gail, for your continued hard work to help our guests!