QV Middle School Food Drive Aids Center for Hope

With less than two weeks until Christmas, students dropped off donations to the Ambridge-based food pantry that were collected in a school-wide food drive.

Sue Otto was excited to see the half dozen students arrive from Quaker Valley Middle School to deliver laundry baskets filled with food. The group of eighth-grade student council members delivered a box truck of food donations Thursday that were collected in a school-wide food drive. In all, 35 baskets and 25 bags were delivered. Otto, executive director of the Center for Hope in Ambridge, said the center broke a record last month in helping 534 individuals, 243 being families in need. "Most people at the food pantry, they really have no choice. They need to be here," she said. Otto explained to students that their donations make it possible for the food pantry to serve those individuals, many of them children, elderly or disabled. She …

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Quaker Valley Students Pitch in to Help Ambridge Food Pantry

Middle school students collect more than a ton of food for the Center for Hope.

  It took nearly a dozen Quaker Valley Middle School students and some parents to carry 45 laundry baskets and 25 boxes filled with food into the Center for Hope in Ambridge. The seventh-graders loaded up a truck at the middle school and delivered the food Tuesday after collecting a record number of donations during the eight-day food drive supporting those less fortunate. “I think this was one of our best turnouts ever,” said seventh-grader Bearett Tarris. “Normally, we don’t get this much.” “I think people were more motivated to bring in the cans,” seventh-grader Maria Beatty added. Sue Otto, executive director of the Center for Hope, said many food pantries see donations around the Thanksgiving holiday, but are sometimes forgotten …

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Sewickley Community Garden in Full Bloom

Two months after the Sewickley Community Garden began the summer season, the garden is doing well.

The volunteers spent Saturday in the garden and then prepared to take part in a relaxing barbeque to celebrate their hard work.

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Community Garden Kicks Off 2011 Season

Volunteers pitch in to start the Sewickley Community Center's garden.

Sewickley residents woke up early Saturday morning to get started planting the community garden at the Sewickley Community Center. The fresh, nutritious vegetables that are grown are donated to the center's Food Bank.

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Monday Musings with Alie

Stint at Sewickley Area Food Bank Brings Hope to Her Hopeless World

Volunteering at food pantry close to home improves her view of a tumultuous world.

Sewickley may be known as an affluent town, but it borders several less fortunate communities. Many people in our backyard are in need, especially in a time where food and gas prices are rising and incomes remain stagnant.  With much of the world is currently in a state of turmoil, it is easy to become discouraged and think there is nothing you can do to solve its endless problems.  I often feel this way, thinking that if I donate money to international organizations, it may end up in the wrong hands. If I give to a politician’s campaign, I fear he won’t win or won’t keep his promises. Recently, I have decided to narrow my focus to make helping others seem much more manageable and meaningful.  While I can’t calm the storms of unrest in the…

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