Foundation supports milk program, ‘Fill a Glass with Hope’

SHARON, Pa. — The Fill a Glass with Hope fresh milk program started in 2016 with an initial grant of $5,000 from the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio.

This first statewide charitable fresh milk program, is a collaborative effort between Feeding Pennsylvania and partners with the American Dairy Association of the Northeast, the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program and the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association and locally, Dean’s Dairy, to supply fresh milk to families through food pantries.

Sites

Locally, the first food pantry that the fresh milk was delivered to was the Salvation Army of Mercer County.

There are now seven sites in Mercer County including the Episcopal Community Services of Sharon, the Cedar Avenue Church of God Food Pantry in Sharon, the Salvation Army in Greenville, Saints Peter & Paul Food Pantry in Sharon, Loaves and Fishes Pantry in Mercer and the Community Counseling program.

The hope is to expand the program to three additional sites in 2018.

Funs

Funds to support the Fill a Glass with Hope program are provided through grants of the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, corporate sponsors and individual donations.

“We initially provided $5,000 from our pool of unrestricted money for the pilot project, then another grant at the end of last year for $6,664 for its expansion,” said Kyle English, executive director of the community foundation.

“In this last grant, the Shenango Valley Foundation board used $3,500 in unrestricted money, the Strimbu Memorial Fund granted $1,500 and the Community Foundation provided a grant of $1,664 from our administrative budget. Unrestricted money is provided to the board by donors so that it can support initiatives that will benefit our community.”

The foundation, including its six affiliate foundations, has over 700 funds that contain upwards of $86 million. These funds grant over $5 million per year to support charitable causes throughout the region.