Mar 8, 2018 5 min read

WAYNESBURG – There are 5,150 people in Greene County who aren’t always sure where their next meal is coming from.

That’s 13.4 percent of the population that faces some sort of food insecurity, according to Rosa Snyder-Boyd with the Greene County Food Security Partnership.

The Hunger Summit event Monday focused on Gov. Tom Wolf’s Blueprint for a Hunger-Free PA, updated in 2016, and how hunger can be combated locally.

Heather Hallman, adviser to the governor on food and nutrition programs, provided the keynote talk outlining the blueprint, what has been accomplished and what remains to be done by 2020.

One in eight Pennsylvanians live below the poverty line, and many are forced to choose between paying for utilities, rent, transportation and food each month.

The talk also featured four panelists who specialize in WIC, SNAP and hunger in schools, and Candace Tustin, executive director of the Corner Cupboard Food Bank.

“One thing that folks may not be aware of is that we are a two-person staff. Our operation oversees 11 different pantry sites throughout the county,” Tustin said, with a lot of help from volunteers.

Also on the panel was Jim Elsenheimer, West Greene School District’s food service director. He’s been with the district for five years and has over 30 years in the food business, but prefers to work with young children on school lunch programs. He outlined the many programs to help hungry children in West Greene and throughout the county.

About 1,500 children in Greene County experience food insecurity, or one in five children. Half of Greene County students receive free or reduced lunches.

“Meals have changed from when I was going to school to where they are now,” Elsenheimer explained, adding that students get their pick for lunch, but may just throw away their fruit or vegetables.

The district is looking at more options, like dehydrating fruit so it does not go to waste.

“We’re starting a hydroponics program,” Elsenheimer said. “This is brand new. They’re just now starting to grow the vegetables.”

Hydroponics grows plants without soil. West Greene’s systems use the waste from tilapia to provide nutrients to lettuce and other veggies. West Greene is one of two districts in the county with a hydroponics program. Elsenheimer said the district is looking at what to do with the fish once they have matured and how to use the fresh produce to help students in need.

He also covered the summer and weekend food programs, which help provide students with meals outside the school day. All summer feeding sites are open and do not require an application, but only about 10 percent of students participate. Elsenheimer said they would like volunteers to help offer more locations in churches, schools, fire halls, libraries and the like. A great source is vacation bible schools. Even though they run only for a short time, that’s still a guaranteed healthy meal for those children, he said.

Elsenheimer’s dream is to provide students with meals during the summer at their homes since transportation can be a huge deterrent to participation.

The weekend food program is all donor and grant funded and helps feed about 200 students a week across the county. Weekly food bags cost about $5 per student.

West Greene, along with Waynesburg’s Intermediate Unit 1 campus, has established a small food pantry. About 20 students use the pantry with toiletries and canned goods weekly.

“West Greene and East Franklin have it. Hopefully, more schools in the county will consider it,” Elsenheimer said.

New to the county includes the addition of helping boxes. Much like Little Free Libraries that have popped up across the country, so too have small pantries. These boxes serve as intermediaries to an actual pantry, a place someone can go for help without filling out paperwork. They provide short-term help to those struggling between paychecks or pantry distribution days. Nonperishable food items and small toiletries are stocked.

The pantries are at First Presbyterian Church and Eva K. Bowlby Public Library, both in Waynesburg, as well as the Flenniken Memorial Library in Carmichaels, Aleppo Brethren Church and Spraggs United Methodist Church.

Maribeth Tarpley with the Greene County Food Security Partnership encouraged anyone interested in helping fight hunger locally to attend their meetings.

“We need you there. We need more people at the table,” she said.

The Greene County Food Security Partnership is a collaborative task group with 40 partners that aims to address food insecurity in Greene County.

Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at the Community Foundation of Greene County’s conference room. The next is at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. For more information, visit greenefoodpartnership.org.