5K race will support Sharpsville food pantry - Sharonherald

5K race will support Sharpsville food pantry - Sharonherald

SHARPSVILLE — Fitness and nourishment are coming together with a 5K race that will support the Sharpsville Community Food Pantry, just as the community came together to create the pantry two years ago.

The race – it's also an option to walk the route – was the idea of event coordinator Sandy O'Leary, who had run 5K, 10K and half-marathon races in the past. She said thought the 5K was a good way to help support the pantry while drawing people who like to participating in such races.

DAVID L. DYE | Herald

The Rev. Matthew Strickenberger, pastor of St. Bartholomew’s Church of Sharpsville, and event coordinator Sandy O’Leary of the Sharpsville Community Food Pantry display items following the pantry’s recent food distribution last Monday.

"It's a challenging race. It goes through the hills of Sharpsville," O'Leary said. "There's a steep hill at the end, and the runners told us it was a good challenge last year."

The course begins and ends at St. Bartholomew's Church on West Ridge Avenue, starting at 9 a.m. Nov. 11. Runners who register before Oct. 31 are guaranteed a T-shirt, and O'Leary said prizes will be handed out, too.

At the first 5K last year, 39 people participated, although O'Leary said organizers are hoping to see more this year. The race takes place after the state cross country competition and before the Thanksgiving Day Gobble Wobble in Hermitage, so some participants might be runners recently involved in the competition who want to stay in shape and prepare for the Gobble Wobble, she said.

Proceeds from the 5K will help the food pantry buy turkeys for needy families this Thanksgiving.

Last year, the race raised about $1,345, which paid for 100 turkeys. This year, the pantry hopes to buy 200 turkeys, volunteer Rosemary Ferguson said. Each turkey comes with all the trimmings needed for families to have a proper Thanksgiving dinner and can feed 8 to 10 people, she said.

The pantry's first distribution was Oct. 19, 2015, although the issue of feeding hungry families was discussed among local clergy for several years, said the Rev. Matt Strickenberger, pastor at St. Bart's. Since the St. Bartholomew Social Center had the space available for a food pantry, the idea was presented to the parish and met with a mostly positive response.

"It helps us remember what we're supposed to do as Christians," Strickenberger said.

Opening the pantry required moving some of the religious-education classrooms and installing a walk-in cooler. Otherwise, the transition has been smooth, he said, with members of the parish and community stepping up whenever a need or challenge arose. Even the pantry's shelves were built with donated supplies by volunteers from the parish.

"People have always stepped up to the plate to donate their time and resources," Strickenberger said. "God provides what we need. It has happened every time."

Volunteers at the pantry say hunger is a need that seems to have grown since the pantry's founding. At the first food distribution, volunteers handed out 18 bags of food, while their most recent distribution on Monday was about 160 bags, Ferguson said.

"The Sharpsville Community Food Pantry is not just for the borough. It's for anyone in need," Ferguson said.

The pantry is a secondary pantry, meaning it is self-sufficient and not under the umbrella of the state. The designation allows the pantry to help people without requiring any identifying information.

Rather than being the primary source of support, the pantry helps families over a few days in cases where both parents might work multiple jobs and finances are tight, such as a situation where the parents would have to choose between paying for gas to get to work or feeding their family.

"All of our food comes from donations, either in donated food or donated money we use to purchase food," Ferguson said.

Besides food, the pantry has expanded to include a community garden to provide fresh produce, a free library with books, movies and CDs for children and adults, as well as a clothes closet for anyone who needs a new set of clothes, a heavy coat for the winter or an outfit for a job interview.

"People have always been really grateful for what they receive," Ferguson said.

Food distributions at the pantry are every third Monday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon, with just the library and the clothes closet open two other Mondays.

FOR MORE information on the food pantry or the 5K, visit the Sharpsville Community Food Pantry page on Facebook or call the parish office at 724-962-7130.

Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.