Food Bank of the State College Area, Inc.

Our service area encompasses the entire State College Area School District and Upper Bald Eagle Valley. Through our Centre Sorting Center re-donation program, we provide food to the other Centre County food banks to assist them in serving their clients.

A client may visit the Food Bank up to eight times in a twelve month period, with a referral from a social service agency or Community Safety Net member organization. After eight visits, the client must work with a case manager in one of our partnering organizations to continue receiving food assistance.

A client receives a supply of groceries sufficient for approximately one week. The size of the food order corresponds to the number of people in the household. In addition to non-perishable foods, every grocery order includes fresh milk, eggs, bread, and frozen meat. Fresh produce personal hygiene and cleaning products, baby food and baby supplies are also provided.

In 2009, we provided 15,031 bags of groceries to 2,242 people in 789 households. Approximately 37% were children under the age of 18 and about 7% were age 60 or older. Two hundred eleven people were first-time users of our services.

The number of visits by those families needing service nine or more times in a twelve month period increased by nearly 70 percent from 2008 to 2009.

Our regular hours for client service and for dropping off food donations are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Emergency food provided by our food bank is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a weekthrough the Community Help Centre (237-5855). During the month of November and December extra Holiday Bags and turkeys are distributed during regular client service hours.

We opened in the fall of 1982 at St. Andrew’s Church in downtown State College. In 1996, we became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, The Food Bank of the State College Area, Inc., which is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. In January 2007, we moved to a new location for a nominal annual rent. We maintain one off-site food storage area, year-round.

Our staff currently includes two full-time staff members, the Executive Director and the Manager of Operations, and a part-time Treasurer, as well as nearly 60 volunteers who regularly help us serve our clients. Other groups volunteer in packing bags of groceries, sorting donations, and helping with special projects. Volunteers logged approximately 7,585 hours of service in 2009.

We receive financial support from numerous sources including the Centre County United Way, the Emergency food and Shelter Program, CROP Walk, the Centre County Community Foundation, State College Area High School’s “Empty Bowls Project,” The Downtown State College Rotary Club, religious congregations, business and service organizations, various groups at Penn State, and many individual donors. We receive food from Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program and the State Food Purchase Program and from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (our Second Harvest Food Bank). Large amounts of food come to us through the Letter Carriers’ and the Scouting for Food drives, which are held annually, as well as from many other food drives sponsored by various groups and organizations in our community and at Penn State. Finally, donations of food and grocery gift cards are received regularly from local churches, grocery stores, and other businesses, as well as from individual donors. In 2009, more than 75-85% of the food we distributed was donated.

To contact us, call 814-234-2310 or write P.O. Box 907, State College, PA 16804. Visit us at 276 West Hamilton Ave., State College (in the building between the Mobil service station and the Hamilton Shopping Plaza).