Apr 13, 2019 3 min read

After its operators failed to file taxes for the past three years, the Canton Volunteer Food Pantry has closed its doors.

The Canton Township Board of Supervisors issued a public notice notifying residents that the IRS had revoked the pantry’s tax-exempt status.

“The IRS revocation was the result of the failure of the Canton Volunteer Food Pantry to file its annual information returns for the past three years,” the notice reads.

The pantry was located at 2654 Jefferson Ave.

Supervisor Thomas Bodnovich said the pantry had received several letters from the IRS since 2015, all of which had gone unanswered.

“It’s really disheartening to us. We were not aware of that,” Bodnovich said.

According to Bodnovich, the township was not directly involved with the food pantry, other than donating $2,000 each year. The township learned of the issue when officials received a letter from the IRS, which Bodnovich provided to the Observer-Reporter. The letter, dated March 18, is an official notice that the pantry had lost its tax-exempt status.

“Because you haven’t filed for three consecutive years, your organization’s tax-exempt status was automatically revoked by law, effective Nov. 15, 2018,” the letter reads.

Ronald Harton was the head of the pantry, which was established in 2015. Harton also sits on Canton Township’s zoning hearing board.

“He was responsible for that organization,” Bodnovich said.

Because of the situation with the food pantry, the board of supervisors sent a letter to Harton asking him to resign from the zoning hearing board.

“We just can’t trust him with that. It’s a very important board,” Bodnovich said.

Added Bodnovich: “You just don’t get letters from the IRS and ignore it.”

Harton attended Thursday’s supervisors’ meeting, and made clear to the board he had no intentions of resigning.

“I’m not going to resign, so you’re going to have to vote me out,” Harton said during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Harton did not immediately return a phone call Friday afternoon.

The Greater Washington County Food Bank informed the pantry March 28 that it would no longer provide it with food. Rather than make its annual $2,000 donation to the pantry, the supervisors voted Thursday to instead give that money to the food bank.

When reached for comment, the food bank provided the following statement to the newspaper:

“Canton Township Pantry is an unfortunate example of good intentions gone awry. Legal implications for nonprofits are sometimes misunderstood or overlooked by well-meaning coordinators who get caught up in the mission, but forget the paperwork. Greater Washington County Food Bank will continue to provide for Canton Township clients without interruption. Canton Pantry clients have several other options from which to choose in the immediate area. See our website for details, or call the GWCFB at 724-632-2190, ext. 107.”