PVIAA donations will help hundreds of area families
Donations to the Nesquehoning Food Pantry and The St. Vincent de Paul Society were part of the Panther Valley Irish-American Association’s annual community giving program Tuesday night. Front, from left, are Paula Anthony, Nesquehoning Food Pantry; Jay Horvath, St. Vincent de Paul Society president; and Mary Beth Beck, Nesquehoning pantry co-director. Back row are PVIAA members Michael McCall, Paul McArdle Jr. and Michael Crampsie.
Representatives of organizations who were recipients of the Panther Valley Irish-American Association’s generosity in making preholiday donations included, front, from left, Jesse Gindhart-Durning, The Salvation Army; Rose Marie Armon, Summit Hill Food Pantry; and Richard Willing, Lansford Food Pantry. With them are PVIAA members, back row, Jim Crampsie, Billy O’Gurek, Bob Crampsie and Emmett McCall. TIMES NEWS STAFF
A 15-year tradition continued on Tuesday night at the Hilltop Community Center in Summit Hill, where the Panther Valley Irish-American Association presented checks totaling $2,500 to five area organizations that serve the less fortunate and needy of the Panther Valley-Tamaqua area.
“Oh my, goodness, they’ve (association members) been wonderful,” said Rose Marie Armon, who with John Williams co-directs the Summit Hill Food Pantry, one of the beneficiaries of the group’s generosity.
At the same time, the PVIAA members seized the moment to make the presentations in honor of longtime member, former treasurer and past Shamrock Award recipient Robert “Bob” Ames of Coaldale, who was instrumental in prompting the association to give back to the community back in 2002.
With the recent donations, the PVIAA’s return to the community has now exceeded $30,000, member Bob Crampsie said.
“This whole idea started 15 years ago,” he explained. “It was the 150th anniversary of the end of the potato famine in Ireland in 1852, and we thought it would be nice to start raising money for local food banks. After all, they (directors of the food banks) are the people who are aware of the people who need the help.”
Crampsie said, “This year’s donations are special in that we’re making them in honor of Bob. He spearheaded the idea. It was he who started the tradition of giving that we’re continuing today.”
The funding represents proceeds from advertisers and supporters of the PVIAA’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Banquet, he said. The banquet is held every March 17 as a means of preserving the Irish-American heritage and honoring an individual of that nationality who made a difference in the community throughout the years. The association, formed in 1948, will be celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2018.
Meanwhile, Armon, who has been a director of the Summit Hill Food Pantry since 1998, succeeding Sr. Mary Florence, said this year’s donation will help put more in the baskets/boxes of families served in the community, which ranges from 75-90 each month.
“It (the money) means a lot of canned goods; the difference between a basic turkey dinner and one with a lot of extras,” she said.
Richard Willing, who directs the Lansford Food Pantry that serves about 75 households per month, agreed.
He said, “This will buy a lot of canned goods and feed a lot of people. We’re averaging 10-15 new families per month, so the added revenue will definitely be a big help. We can’t thank the PVIAA members enough.”
“We’re very appreciative,” said Mary Beth Beck, who joined co-director Paula Anthony of the Nesquehoning Food Pantry in making the trip to Summit Hill for the check presentations. She said the pantry serves about 65 households per month, “some which are large families.”
Anthony added, “These guys (PVIAA members) are a godsend. We’ve been blessed. God knows what we need and he sees that we get it. We think it’s wonderful what the association does to help the people in our communities.
The Summit Hill, Lansford and Nesquehoning pantries are divisions of the Shepherd House food program operated in Carbon County.
Both Jesse Gindhart-Durning and Jay Horvath, whose organizations also received donations from the PVIAA, said the funding will help in a number of other ways besides food baskets.
Gindhart-Durning, associated with The Salvation Army, said its donation will most likely help with the Christmas distribution program.
“This is super great,” he said. “We appreciate it more than 100 percent. You don’t know how much this will help.”
He said The Salvation Army is prepared for its Thanksgiving Day dinner program, which is free of charge to people who do not have other options. The dinner will be served from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, 105 W. Broad St., Tamaqua. Deliveries will also be made to homebound people by calling 570-668-0410, he said.
Horvath, who is president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Joseph Catholic Parish of the Panther Valley, Summit Hill, said that the group’s donation will help the society serve the destitute in its ongoing mission.
“The money means a lot,” he said. “It’ll help serve families in need in the Panther Valley area, where a lot of households live well below the median income level.”
He said the society assists those families in other ways besides providing food assistance, including help with oil, utility and clothing costs. It is also planning a community garden to assist families in the future.
The society is one of the many ministry groups of the fairly recently formed consolidated parish that represents Catholic families in the Coaldale, Lansford, Nesquehoning and Summit Hill area and is a continuation of the chapter once held since the 1980s at the former St. Katharine Drexel parish, Lansford.
