The History of Neighbor Helping Neighbor Food Bank

Early 1980s: South Central Food Bank sent out a letter regarding a cheese giveaway for seniors. This program was administered by The Office for Aging until 1984 at which time they no longer had the means to continue.

Between 1984: Commissioner Ed Kennedy contacted his Pastor and the County Church Ministerium who agreed to administer the program until 1987 when Pastor Hefner of Newport took over the responsibility. Commissioner Ed Kennedy also contacted the National Guard and they agreed to transport the food from Harrisburg, which they continued to do until 1986 when Campbell’s Trucking agreed to take this on at no charge.

1990: When Pastor Hefner could no longer administer the program, the County contracted with Tri-County Commission for Community Action.

1997: Food Bank came back to the County to administer at its new location in the old jail building in New Bloomfield. Carol Ulsh was hired as a part time coordinator and Marian Auman worked as her part time clerk.

2001: Carol Ulsh resigned and Barbara Welliver-Bramer was hired as the part time coordinator. Boyd Sheaffer was hired part time to help put and when Marian Auman resigned, Carol Charles was hired in 2006 as a part time clerk. Frank Penn was hired part time in 2005. The county began to plan a new food bank building and through the Community Development Block Grant Program, was able to receive funding from FY2004 – FY2009 to build this new facility which sets on county property.

2008: Barbara resigned and Harry Overholtzer took over as the new coordinator of the food bank which was now a cooperative effort between Join Hands Ministry and the Perry County Commissioners.

April 2009: Food bank moved from the old jail building to a new facility, provided by the county, adjacent to the Perry County Prison. The facility was designed specifically as a food bank with a parking lot, handicapped access, a waiting room, customer intake area, a shopping area and warehouse areas. Clients were now able to “shop” and make their own food selections instead of receiving a pre packaged box of food.

December 2011: Harry retired and was replaced by Bonnie Duncan, who continued as coordinator until December of 2012 when she resigned to take other employment.

January 2013: Retired school teacher John Kiner, who had been volunteering at the food bank became the new coordinator along with Linda Bates in June 2013, who came on board and joined John as co-director.

2020: During covid, the food bank shut down inside shopping and handed out prepackaged food boxes in the parking lot. During this time, they received grants and were able to do much needed renovations such as painting, replacement flooring, building privacy walls to ensure confidentiality for our clients, purchasing new shelves and racks, etc. The goal of the renovations was to create a cleaner, more organized place for those who need assistance to be able to receive food in a dignified manner.

2023: The food bank has created new programs and put new ideas into place, such as Serving Seniors (our food delivery program), food sampling in the lobby, suggestion/feedback cards, etc. We are always looking for new ways to rid the stigma of coming to the food bank. Mary Ann Brownawell is the current Executive Director, and Crystal Failor is the current Assistant Director.

Volunteer

Join our amazing volunteers and help us make a difference in our community!
Learn More

Donate

Help those in need in our community by donating money or needed items!
Learn More

Need Help

Do you need help? Learn more about how we can offer support!
Learn More

Seniors

Learn more about how we can help aid seniors in our community!
Learn More
Help Make Your Mark

Take a look at some of the achievements we've accomplished so far.

Lbs. of Food
0 +
Volunteers
0 +
Families Helped
0 +
Years
0 +