Volunteers spend day at Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for Giving Tuesday
Volunteers spent their morning at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for Giving Tuesday.
The day of giving was started back in 2012 as a way to focus on charities and nonprofits after the commercialization seen on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On Tuesday, 35 volunteers filled boxes with food to go to families in need.
Dean Allen said he volunteers at the food bank three days per week.
“You just want to give back so that anybody who needs food can find it,” he said.
According to the food bank, one in seven people in the region currently deals with food insecurity, including one in five children.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were cars wrapped around the building. A spokesperson said food insecurity increased 31% during that time and that this Giving Tuesday was even more crucial than years past.
“We’re dealing with a lot of families that had to go through the unexpected and then now this sends an alert signal to say ‘Okay, we need to step up our game,’” said Ronnell Hunt, with the food bank.
Hunt said they hope to raise $60,000 on Tuesday and with the help of their partners will match that amount. The money helps to provide meals to the food insecure in the Pittsburgh area.
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“Our goal has always been neighbors helping neighbors,” Hunt said. “Now, looking at this Giving Tuesday this helps put a little bit of an extra encouragement in us to see how we can take it to that next step.”