CONSOL holiday food drive raises more than $50K
WAYNESBURG – Food banks across Pennsylvania are fortunate in that the state provides funding to keep the programs afloat. However, the Greene County Corner Cupboard Food Bank has been stretched thin this year. The state reduced the food bank’s funding by almost $17,000.
According to Jan Caldwell, director of the Greene County Corner Cupboard Food Bank, this diminished funding makes the impact from the annual food drive headed by CONSOL Energy Inc. even more pronounced.
“[The food drive] has always helped us to make it through the year,” Caldwell said. “This year it was critical, especially with the huge amount of funds that won’t be coming from the state.”
On Oct. 27, CONSOL Energy Inc. held a food drive for the Greene County Corner Cupboard Food Bank in front of the Greene County Courthouse. Numerous businesses, agencies and individuals made a stop in front of the courthouse, donating food and money to help the county’s food bank this holiday season, just in time for Thanksgiving.
Even Mel Blount, a former Pittsburgh Steelers, and “Iceberg,” the Pittsburgh Penguins’ mascot, came to show their support.
“We have received about 2,000 pounds of food and it’s still coming in,” Caldwell said. “We’ll be keeping track up until Thanksgiving. People just keep jumping on board.”
According to Lynn Manning, public relations supervisor for CONSOL Energy Inc., close to $50,000 was raised solely through the company’s efforts, with an additional $3,000 or more coming from the community.
“(CONSOL Energy Inc.) is an incredible company and we owe it to the employees who jumped on board and to everybody who gave so generously,” Caldwell said.
According to Manning, CONSOL Energy Inc. donated $5,000 to kick off the food drive, and through the sale of T-shirts, employees donated almost $32,000. Furthermore, the company offered a matching grant of $2,500 if the community donated the amount during the course of the food drive.
“It was just tremendous,” Manning said. “Greene County is just absolutely great. They came to the rescue and helped out.”
For the holidays, special food boxes are provided which include the regular items provided monthly but also the holiday items, such as turkey, gravy and stuffing.
Manning explained that CONSOL Energy Inc. began the food drive three years ago when it came to the company’s attention that the food bank could only give out chicken breasts for Thanksgiving. During an eight-hour, emergency food drive, only days before Thanksgiving, the company raised $48,000.
Caldwell said that she considers the donations that come in up to Thanksgiving as a ripple effect stemming from the annual holiday food drive.
“Obviously without the CONSOL Energy support the holidays wouldn’t be as bright,” Caldwell said. “They make it possible for us to provide more food throughout the year to less fortunate and food insecure families. Sometimes we have to do more with less and somehow we always get it done. We are thankful for CONSOL’s support.”
Greene County residents were not the only ones to support the Greene County
Corner Cupboard Food Bank. CONSOL Energy Inc. employees from other counties, and even from as far away as Utah, donated to the food drive.
“We sold T-shirts company-wide, from here to Utah,” Manning said. “The people in Utah, they don’t know anything about Greene County but they knew that people needed help. It was a true family effort.”
Caldwell expressed similar sentiments.
“When you think that CONSOL’s employees come from other counties except Greene, hats off to them,” she said. “It shows the incredible giving spirit of the CONSOL family.”