On A Positive Note: Latrobe-Based Interfaith Organization Helps Over 500 People In Need
LATROBE, Pa (KDKA) - In an alley in Latrobe, with a bag full of groceries in hand, Amy McLendon is doing what needs to be done.
This visit to drop off food is one of the many things McLendon and a group of volunteers at Laurel Area Faith in Action do for residents 60 and over. The interfaith organization focuses on the Latrobe, Derry and Ligonier areas. And they do a lot for the nearly 500 residents they serve.
McLendon, the executive director of L.F.I.A., listed the many things the group provides.
"We provide transportation to doctors and hospitals, we also pick up prescriptions, have people who cut the grass. But the prime movers of the organization are the volunteers," she says.
McLendon told KDKA's Ross Guidotti, "we are always in need of volunteers, we have gold star volunteers." Due to the pandemic, volunteers are needed now more than ever -- and it's not just manual labor and transportation.
The organization has enlisted kids to make cards for those who may feel shut in and shut off from the world. And then there are the masks. McLendon and her small army remain busy as the battle to stop COVID-19 rages.
"We have supplied masks to individuals, hand-sewed ones as well as the medical disposable ones. We've probably supplied up 1,000 masks. All services are free of charge," she says.
Aletha Young is one of the residents L.F.I.A.
"They're wonderful," she says. "I call them God's little angels, I really do."
Angels? McLendon respectfully disagrees.
Good people trying to better the world they live in is more like it: "We like to say we're changing lives two at a time. Both the volunteer and the recipient -- together we can do anything."
If you're interested in volunteering, you can learn more online. Your help and kind heart are most welcome.
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