See you next year!
PRINCE OF PEACE CENTER
SERVING THE SHENANGO VALLEY
AMOUNT DONATED: $5,407.69
As Prince of Peace Center, an affiliate of Catholic Charities consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, our purpose is to provide support for the economic, emotional and spiritual needs of those needing a helping hand to build self-sufficiency. Committed to the sacredness of human life and the betterment of society, we affirm the dignity of those in need by responding with compassion to their basic human needs through advocacy, education, and empowerment. Our services are committed to strengthening families, building community and reducing poverty among people of all races, faiths, ages, and backgrounds.
Giving Week Progress:
FUNDRAISING GOAL: $12,000
Programs Supported by Your Donations
Our project is to continue to provide food security for those who hunger. Food security is a matter of individual human dignity as well as the foundation for strong families and communities. Our food programs provide supplemental food to 700 families each year through monthly food distributions, emergency food bags and special holiday food distributions. Additionally, our Soup Kitchen provides a free community meal every Monday and Wednesday. Our doors open to our neighbors welcoming anyone who wishes to share a delicious meal prepared by groups of volunteer cooks and meal servers. We served double the meals in 2021 that we did in 2020. Our twice weekly soup kitchen served a whopping 13,800 meals in 2022. We anticipate this increased demand will continue into 2023. Since February 2023 we now provide 40 extra meals to the two local high rises that have been temporarily closed to residents in local hotels they are staying in, we do not normally deliver meals, but made the exception to meet the needs of our neighbors.
Needs that Cannot beMet without Your Help
Prior to 2021, our average meals served per day held in the 60-70 meal range. Last year, our average meals served per day rose into the 100-110 range, with individual dinner days sometimes as high as 300 to-go meals given out. Due to a substantial decrese in funding from a separate local source, we have had to reevaluate the sustainability of these numbers, while also recognizing that it is a vital part of our mission to continue feeding the hungry. Part of maintaining a sustainable program at these numbers is making the best possible use of generous food donations, which often come in the form of produce, but can also include meat and dairy - all of which need proper storage to last long enough to be used in our twice-weekly meals.
