LETTER: Food bank funding change was needed

This is in response to Bev Ashton’s Dec. 23 letter regarding the decision of the Washington County commissioners to reallocate funds from the Washington County Food Bank to the Allegheny County Food Bank.
As a local food pantry coordinator, I know firsthand why these changes have occurred. Once the commissioners allocate money to the food bank, they have no control on how or what funds are used. At the beginning of 2020 Washington County had 22 food pantries across the county. Currently there are eight pantries left due to the decision of the director and board of directors. The changes made by the Washington County Food Bank have directly affected the distribution of food to the people in need. The number of clients continue to decrease due to the closing of food pantries from Avella to California, PA. People walked to the pantries that no longer are open and can only come on Saturdays when transportation is available. Some may also work and still qualify for food and can only come on a Saturday. This has been the main issue of the director to close the Saturday food pantries and open distributions Monday through Friday only. The ultimate goal is to have one main distribution center, which will be Brownsville.
The Allegheny County Food Bank has been a distributor to the Washington County Food Bank along with federal, state, and fundraising efforts. We are all overwhelmed with the need in our communities due to the pandemic and unemployment. Ashton’s point on how hard food bank employees work and the good job they do is not the issue. This has never been disputed. The issue is we are in a pandemic, which has caused unemployment, and this is not the time to close pantries or change days, places or times for distribution of food. We should commend the commissioners that their concern is to feed people in these difficult times. That has been their main concern from the beginning. This should not become a political issue with agendas attached.
Several man hours have been put into this decision and their constituents were foremost in their decision making. The $280,000 will be only used for the Washington County clients for our food pantries. Last week Allegheny County came to Washington County and distributed approximately 500 boxes of food and they will be back in January. The are committed to meeting the needs of both Allegheny and Washington counties.
Toni Vallone
Meadowdale Food Pantry Coordinator