Feeding those in need: Central Pennsylvania Food Bank sources, saves food Community Foundation grants support area food pantries

BOB ROLLEY/CCCF Jason Niemczyk, right, senior operations manager for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, stands amid the agencies model food pantry in its Williamsport warehouse. The set up offers suggestions on how food banks can run efficient, effective food pantries.

BOB ROLLEY/CCCF The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank has a Learning Kitchen, where it teaches volunteers at food banks and pantries it serves about food distribution and preparation, including education on making healthy choices when it comes to diet.

BOB ROLLEY/CCCF Jason Niemczyk, center, senior operations manager for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, stands in an aisle of food to be distributed to various food banks and pantries through the region as the agency continues its critical work to provide food to those in need coming off a period of high inflation rate for food items.

PHOTO PROVIDED Representatives of the Clinton County Community Foundation recently toured the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank as they gain education on need amid an annual grant program that provides thousands of dollars for food distribution to the needy. From left are Joelene Harbach, CPFB’s development associate-operations and analytics; Kelly Charlesworth, the agency’s grant writer; Foundation Board President Dennis Trout; Foundation Secretary Don Grant; Jason Niemczyk, senior operations manager for the Food Bank, and Bob Rolley, Foundation outreach coordinator.

By BOB ROLLEY / cccf@clintoncountyfoundation.org

LOCK HAVEN – People may think a food bank simply distributes food to those in need.

But there’s so much more to it.

Food banks rescue food; that is, they save food for consumption that otherwise would perish or expire.

And food banks – working with local nonprofit agencies – work to educate people on healthy eating habits.

There is no better evidence of that than at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank offices and warehouse in Williamsport.

Serving 27 counties or 18,000 square miles from Maryland to New York – including a number of food banks and pantries in Clinton County – the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank relies heavily on volunteers, employees and receiving agencies to the extent that it moved 69 million pounds of food into the region in 2023.

That’s right: 69 million pounds.

The Food Bank’s mission and purpose have become more important amid the rising costs of food.

As of October, U.S. prices for food eaten at home were up 28% from 2019, after costs peaked in 2022, according to government figures. 

Prices are still rising, albeit much slower.

“Sustained inflation hurts everyone, especially those in need who we serve through our partner agencies,” explained Jason Niemczyk, senior operations manager for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, said during a recent tour of the warehouse by representatives of the Clinton County Community Foundation.

The Foundation has annually approved grants to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to purchase and distribute food to local agencies such as the Lock Haven Salvation Army, the Good Neighbor Center of the Renovo Council of Churches, St. Paul’s Food Pantry and the Sugar Valley Lions Food Pantry. 

From infants to seniors, the Food Bank and its partners are seeing more need out there.

That urgency demands a smart approach to gathering food so the Food Bank has a specialized food sourcing team that solicits and finds food from both grocery chains and food manufacturers. 

Local farms have also been a huge contributor, and the Food Bank can gain state funding if it sources Pennsylvania-made food, said Niemczyk.

“Approximately 60 percent of the food we distribute is vulnerable” to perishing or simply being thrown out, he explained.

There is a scale the team uses when sourcing food: The amount of sodium, sugar and saturated fat play a part so the team can determine the quality of the food.

“It’s a three-tiered system: Choose often, choose sometimes and choose ready,” he explained, noting the Food Bank marks the food with green, yellow and red tags to serve as a guide.

He mentioned various companies that donate food, including Valley Farms with its milk.

“We get a massive amount of donations from Valley Farms and we are grateful,” he said. We received 58 unique donations from Valley Farms last fiscal year totaling 158,957 pounds of dairy products, which is the equivalent of 73,933 quarts of milk … product that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill or poured down a drain.”

One might think the Food Bank distributes more food at the holidays. That isn’t the case.

“At our Williamsport hub, we are currently building about 4,000 food boxes each month and distributing them through Senior Programs, MilitaryShare Programs, and Emergency food distributions,” he explained.

The Food Bank has 350 partner agencies in the 27-county region the Williamsport hub serves, but more than 1,100 partners across its network, Charlesworth said.

Importantly, the Food Bank operates a learning kitchen, where it provides education to partner agency staff members about the food being distributed, she added.

Further, the Food Bank provides “ServSafe” trainings monthly in the kitchen – a very important function to help keep partner agency staff members up to date on food handling. 

“Our entire staff is also kept up to date with ServSafe certifications, along with biennial food safety audits that ensure our processes and facilities are upholding the highest food safety standards, not only because of the vulnerable foods that we handle but also the vulnerable populations that we serve (i.e. children and elderly), Jason explained.

Of course, at the core of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank are the staff and volunteers. 

In fact, volunteers have donated the equivalent of nearly $2 million worth of their time sorting hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and packing boxes. Over 25 of the volunteers have given more than 1,000 hours of time, some volunteering for 15-plus years.

Nearly 30 groups made up of corporations, social and community groups have been volunteers for close to 10 years.

Talk about dedication.

Putting food on the table. 

It’s not so easy these days, what with food prices rising so rapidly the past few years. 

That’s what makes the Food Bank’s work of serving more than 253,000 people in need each month through its two Healthy Food Hubs in Williamsport and Harrisburg all the more remarkable.