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Project Hope Delivering Holiday Meals To Beaver County Families In Need

CONWAY, Pa. (KDKA) - The pandemic is lingering into the holiday season, but people continue to show the best of humanity by helping those impacted and struggling.

We have seen food distributions for almost two years helping people impacted by the ongoing pandemic.

"Just so I'd have some food or I'd have no way to eat," Beaver Falls resident Debbie Summers said about why she needed to go a distribution.

Her husband passed away and she found herself in financial need.

"I have nothing. I had no money coming in. I have nothing," Summer said.

After she saw the charity of Project Hope in Conway, Beaver County, she wanted to help others.

"I see people that come in here and need the help. A lot of them really don't have much," Summers said.

The group started in the early stages of the pandemic. They started with about 50 hot meals a week.

"It grew to 100, 200 and then like out of nowhere, we went from 200 to 300 to like thousands," Executive Director Jared Bellan said.

Now they serve hot meals on Sundays, give out food to thousands each week and deliver food to people's doors once a month.

They're now getting food to about 8,000 to 10,000 people a month.

Food giveaway
(Photo Credit: KDKA)

"We realized that there's a lot of different people that are in a lot of different places in their life. We don't want to turn anybody away," Ballen said.

As the operation grew, Project Hope needed more resources. It partnered with other community groups and Foodland to meet the needs of the community.

"He contacted us and we obliged to help him in any way we could," Foodland owner Mike Fischer said.

On Tuesday, everyone got a little extra for the holiday season.

"Just please come and get our boxes so we can feed you, cause a lot of kids don't eat," Summers said.

During this season of giving, the organization is making sure everyone has a happy holiday.

Even once the pandemic is over, the organization wants to continue growing and help more people dealing with food insecurity needs. If you need help, you can contact them here.

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