Local company helps food pantry provide turkeys, hams for residents

ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The St. Clairsville Food Pantry was able to purchase around 170 turkeys and hams for those in need this Christmas holiday after a local company donated $3,000 to assist.

Kathi Vaughn, director of the St. Clairsville Food Pantry, said the donation came about after she received a phone call from Valerie Kemo, clinical director for ProMedica Medical Management of Wheeling, inquiring what the pantry was in need of to support residents for the holiday season. Vaughn told her she would like to purchase enough hams and turkeys to give to everyone in need for Christmas. Within a couple weeks, the company provided the pantry with $3,000 to support its efforts.

Kemo said ProMedica is an Ohio-based company with its home office in Columbus. Every holiday season, each of the company's regional offices participates in a community outreach program to support the areas in which they work.

"We are a very community-oriented company, and we like to support our communities that we live and work in," she said.

Kemo said she spoke with the corporate office staff, who stepped up and offered to sponsor the pantry's holiday meals, providing more than the local office itself would have been able to contribute.

"I live in St. Clairsville and so do some of our other staff. We actually work with employers in southeast Ohio -- some in St. Clairsville and some in Belmont County. It's home for a lot of us. ... They (the food pantry) seem like an organization that really helps people on a personal level. And we're in health care and that's what we do. It's important to us," she said.

Thanks to the donation, the pantry was able to purchase and distribute 170-175 turkeys and hams to residents in need. Vaughn said they were able to provide every person that came through the doors in December with one, along with providing the police department with some to give out to families in need.

"It was just a gigantic blessing. ... Because we didn't have the budget to do Christmas baskets this year, it enabled us to be able to give people something special for their holiday meal," she said.

Vaughn said it has been a difficult time. Monetary donations have been low, and the pantry staff relies on them to supply food for residents. She said food costs are on the rise and the area's need has increased.

"We served 70% more people last year than we have served in the prior two years, and the donations just aren't there because things are tough," she said, adding that she hopes things will get better in the New Year.

Though the pantry receives many donations through food drives around the holidays, volunteers must still purchase necessary items. The food bank serves around 160 families per month, which totals about 10,300 meals a month.

The pantry is open to serve those in need from noon to 3 p.m. every Thursday at 102 St. Patricks Alley behind the Presbyterian Church on Marietta Street. Those in need of food are encouraged to come during that time. The only thing required is identification.

Anyone wishing to donate can drop off items at the location or contact the pantry through its Facebook page "The Food Pantry of St. Clairsville."