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Hannah's Pantry reports rising demand: board hears distribution, volunteer and funding numbers
Summary
Hannah's Pantry updated the Susquehanna Township School District board on operations, volunteer needs and funding; the pantry said it serves hundreds of families and is asking for community support ahead of the holidays.
At the Susquehanna Township School District work session, Laura Scheinwald, executive director of Hannah's Pantry, delivered an operational update and asked for continued community support.
"We've changed our distribution times to 9AM to 11AM," Scheinwald told the board, noting the earlier window has made volunteer scheduling easier. She described the pantry’s drive‑through distribution model and said volunteers now serve roughly 300 families in about two hours on distribution days.
Scheinwald provided program figures the pantry tracks: volunteer counts of about 50 per distribution day, roughly 40,000 pounds of food distributed each month, and nearly 9,000 grocery pickups in the last fiscal year. She said the pantry purchases food as well as receives donations and food‑bank supplies; last fiscal year the pantry spent about $70,000 with the food bank and also bought food from retail outlets.
The pantry described school partnerships: pantry volunteers and staff provide snacks and food items to special education classrooms, nurses’ offices and athletics teams, and they supported summer school and back‑to‑school events. Scheinwald said the pantry has expanded governance, is a standalone 501(c)(3), and now includes building liaisons drawn from each school to better match services to student and family needs.
Scheinwald requested help with holiday food drives and volunteer recruitment, and explained ways to donate through the pantry website and digital platforms. Board members asked about volunteer scheduling and funding sources; Scheinwald said the pantry received local foundation grants, county and food‑bank support, and noted federal food distributions available through food‑bank channels have declined.
The board thanked Hannah's Pantry for its partnership with the district and discussed volunteer opportunities and coordination of holiday turkey drives.
