Home - Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank



FAQ Sheet for Tours and Speaking EngagementsWhere does all the food come from?The food in our warehouse come from a variety of sources -governmental agencies, farms, food distributors, food manufacturers, retail stores like Giant Eagle and Sam’s Club, restaurants and community food drivesLast year, more than250 retail stores donated close to 9 million pounds of food to our agencies. Retail store donations consist of bread, produce, dairy, meat and dry goodsGovernment sources play a huge role in providing food to the food bank. National sources, like the USDA provide food for our senior boxesYou mentioned wanting to provide up to 50 million meals per year by 2025. How do you plan to increase the amount of food and produce distributed?We are constantly trying to increase the reach of our existing programs, and start new programs to reach unmet needs.We continue to grow and support our network of member agencies. We provide them with food, as well as funding for things like coolers, freezers and vehicles so they can increase their capacity and distribute more produce, dairy and frozen items. Door Step Delivery is a new program implemented in April of 2020 that offers home delivery to folks unable to access our other services. After we collect food, where does it go?Food collected through food and fund drives, is first weighed in our agency doc so we can have an accurate understanding of how many pounds of food we have on hand. Then, it goes to our repack center. Volunteers in our repack center sort the food into different categories such as cereals, canned goods, paper products, etc. Once the food is sorted into those categories, volunteers repack it into 15 – 30 pounds boxes, depending on the type of item. For example, boxes of cereal are all about 15 pounds and boxes of canned goods are all about 30 pounds. We label all of our boxes with the type of items that are enclosed. Once we have 40 boxes of like items on a pallet, it is taken back to our warehouse and put on our online ordering system. Once the items are on our ordering system, our network of over 400 partner agencies can purchase it at a very reduced cost to feed families in their network. Who pays for all of this/where does the money come from?Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is a registered nonprofit organization. We have a very diversified funding stream. Over 50% of our donations come from individuals in the community which is very unique to our organization and also makes us incredibly stable. Because of our purchasing power, for every $1 donated we can provide up to five nutritious meals for families in need. We also receive generous donations from corporate and community groups as well as grants from our wonderful foundation community. Additionally, some of our programs are funded by local, state, or national government entities. Is the Food Bank run by all volunteers or are there staff as well?The Food Bank actually requires about 6000 volunteers per year to run which is equivalent to about 24 full time staff. However, we do have about 100 full time staff who do work at the Food Bank to source product, organize volunteers, fundraise, run our programs, connect families to resources, and finance our organization. Do you have cooking classes?We do not have cooking classes at this time because of our large scale. However, we do try to partner with organizations who provide cooking classes as frequently as possible. We do have Produce Champions at our Produce to People events. These are volunteers who have a background in nutrition and can speak with families about the less common products that we will be distributing, make recommendations on how to use those fresh products in their kitchen, and hand out recipe cards that we create specifically for our less common items.How do families in need know where to go to get food?If families have access to the internet, they can visit our website to find a pantry or distribution near them or they can give us a call and we will work with them to receive food. However, some families who have never needed help with food security before, don’t know their options. Families are welcome to stop by the Food Bank to meet with someone from our Compassion Corner coordinator. This coordinator will not only talk to them about resources they can utilize, but will also send them home with between 30 and 50 pounds of food to meet the need they currently have. How do you volunteer?The Food Bank has a variety of different volunteer opportunities. If you have access to the internet, you can visit our website at to fill out our interest form or call 412-745-7600Is xyz part of your network? I know about them, volunteered with them, etcWe have over 400 registered partner agencies in our network. We additionally work with other organizations frequently to further our mission. I do not know of that pantry/organization particularly, but they could very well be part of our network. If you use our pantry locator online, you can see all of the pantries in our network. How do you determine if someone actually needs the food? Are there eligibility requirements?The eligibility requirements depend on the source of the food and the specific program. Contact the Food Bank or visit our website for details about eligibility for each program. The government sets specific income guidelines and requirements for government sponsored programs such as Senior Boxes, which requires seniors to provide proof that their income is within 130% of the federal poverty line. Most food pantries receive some form of food from the government requiring them to have individuals self-certify that they are within 150% of the federal poverty line. Other programs, such as our Produce to People Program, which only uses donated or purchased food, does not have to stick to as strict of income requirements. Anyone within 180% of the federal poverty line, or anyone facing unexpected circumstances, expenses, or emergencies who is in need of food is eligible to receive food. The Food Bank believes that someone may still need food assistance even if they fall just above specific income requirements, and encourages anyone in need of food to contact us to be connected to resources. During the COVID-19 crisis we were able to waive all requirements for our drive-up large-scale distributions. The 2020 Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2020 are a mere $12,760 for a household of 1, and $26,200 for a household of 4. COVID-19 Response QuestionsI saw the Food Bank on the news, and the long line of cars that you had. What were you doing to meet the need?Do you think that all of those people needed food? I saw some really nice cars in that line on the news.During the pandemic, we served individuals that we had never served before in any capacity. This was due to amount of individuals who were laid off from their jobs in the community. Many individuals who had a stable income were suddenly in fear of not knowing where their next meal would come from. It was a privilege to be able to serve them in this time of need. What now? Or what are future plans for the Food Bank?How do you think COVID-19 affected the region as it relates to food insecurity?If someone needs food, where can they go?If families have access to the internet, they can visit our website to find a pantry or distribution near them or they can give us a call and we will work with them to receive food. However, some families who have never needed help with food security before, don’t know their options. Families are welcome to stop by the Food Bank to meet with someone from our Compassion Corner coordinator. This coordinator will not only talk to them about resources they can utilize, but will also send them home with between 30How has COVID-19 affected your organization? ................
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