ALTOONA, Pa. (WJAC) — When Gov. Wolf ordered non-essential businesses to close, putting hundreds of thousands out of work, some business owners from Altoona started talking, asking what they could do to help.
“[Anthony] contacted me last Thursday,” said Doug Madden, owner of Doug Madden Pro Services. “We were talking about the community with the crisis going on.”
“We just wanted to go and help out anybody that’s in need. We wanted to come up with something like a food bank, handing out supplies, anything that people need around the area,” said Anthony Evangelisto, Owner of Superior Detailing and Accessories.
A group of 10 Altoona-area business owners came together to donate $4,500 to help form that food bank.
Caring For the Community began with just one table of food.
“We started out at first and we got some donations,” said Rod Barr, one of the organizers. “We had the Caring For the Community Facebook page and it’s just taken off. It’s growing every day.”
Now the charity's drive-thru pantry is in full swing. Dozens of volunteers help fill bags with groceries before handing them off to community members in need.
It's all thanks to the support the new food bank receives.
“The community, they’ve just been pouring in with donations,” Madden said. “Either monetary or food donations, it’s really helpful.”
“The volunteers and the monetary donations through Caring For the Community is where we are able to still continue this for the long period of time that we are,” Evangelisto said.
Madden said the pantry gives business owners like him a chance to give back to a community that's supported their businesses for years.
“I can’t get over the amount of traffic that comes through here and the people receiving the food, how thankful they are,” he said.
“When things happen in life and it’s out of your hands or you need some help, come,” Evangelisto said. “There’s always somebody that wants to help out. We’re here to help anybody that needs any kind of help.”
Caring For the Community operates out of the Superior Detailing and Accessories location in Altoona.
The drive-thru pantry is open from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
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