Coronavirus In Pittsburgh: Local Organizations Partnering Together To Provide 9,000 Meals To Families In Need
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- After a successful trial run, local caterers, nonprofits and officials are teaming up to provide 9,000 meals to students in need in three days.
Organizers will be going to bus stops in Pittsburgh's Hilltop/South, Hill District/East, and West Pittsburgh neighborhoods to reach students there.
The project assists the "grab and go" meal program being provided by Pittsburgh Public Schools during the coronavirus outbreak. Organizers said they believe this specific project will make meals more accessible to students, rather than making students or their parents collect meals at a school campus which may be very far away.
The distribution dates will be on April 6, April 8 and April 10. The trucks provided by Construction Junction and the Salvation Army of Western PA, and PriZilla the Print Bus will be on their routes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on those days to service families. Food will be sourced from Eat 'n Park and Community Kitchen Pittsburgh.
Volunteers from the Latino Community Center at the bus stops, overseeing the process and ensuring social distancing guidelines are followed. Families will be alerted via A+ Schools robocalls about the truck routes.
"One child in particular for us when we were trying to connect him to the nearest site for him to go walk to get a meal during the week, the closest site to him was a 30-minute walk there," said Rosamaria Cristello, Latino Community Center, Executive Director.
These efforts are a result of a collaboration between 412 Food Rescue, A+ Schools and Latino Community Center partner with the City of Pittsburgh, Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, Eat 'n Park and United Way.
"We have to design new ways to distribute food so that we Make sure that we reach people who need it," said Leah Lizarondo, 412 Food Rescue, Co-founder/CEO. "We're distributing a total of about 9000 meals."
Pittsburgh native and award-winning actor Michael Keaton partly funded the pilot run of this program that happened on March 27. Students received 500 meals on that day.
"It's really grown to really be much more of a Pittsburgh community effort," said Cristello.
SCHEDULE:
- Devilliers St. and Centre Ave. - 11:00 a.m.
- Bedford Ave. and Webster Ave. - 11:15 a.m.
- Black St. and North Aiken Ave. - 11:48 a.m.
- Oranmore St. and Stanton Ave. - 12:14 p.m.
- Brownsville Rd. And Parkfield St. - 11:00 a.m.
- Brownsville Rd. And McKinley St. - 11:18 a.m.
- Brownsville Rd and Margaret St. - 11:28 a.m.
- Ormsby Ave and Hays Ave - 11:40 a.m.
- Knox Ave and Bausman St. - 11:52 a.m.
- Chartiers Ave and Hillsboro St. - 11:00 a.m.
- Obey St: and Steuben St. - 11:16 a.m.
- Chartiers Ave and Lorenz Ave - 11:41 a.m.
- Southern Ave and Sandwich Way - 12:15 p.m.
- Shiras Ave and Broadway Ave - 12:38 p.m.
