Leechburg, New Ken food distributions canceled for 2nd week in a row because truck didn't come

For the second Saturday in a row, people who showed up to receive food from churches in Leechburg and New Kensington went home empty handed.

The pastors of Kiski Valley Community Church and The River church in New Kensington were forced to cancel the drive-thru food distributions because the food delivery truck didn’t arrive on time.

The Rev. Todd Pugh of Kiski Valley Community Church said distribution was set to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday. He had about 40 volunteers, including about 20 athletes and coaches from the Leechburg High School football team, ready to help and about 50 cars lined up waiting for the food boxes.

Each box contains milk, cheese, yogurt and other perishable items for families of up to four people. They are made available for free pick-up through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box program.

“We were told truck would be here by 9 a.m.,” he said.

It turned out the truck was still in Philadelphia and wasn’t expected until 2:30 p.m., Pugh said.

“We had to turn the food away,” Pugh said.

He said it was too much to ask the volunteers to come back at the delivery time. Pugh said the church also shares the food-load of 1,300 boxes with other organizations, such as The River church in New Kensington.

“So it was a logistics problem for them, too,” he said. The River also canceled its food distribution event Saturday morning.

Pugh said the warmer weather also meant running the risk of losing the food because the church does not have a way to properly store it.

“It has been really frustrating,” Pugh said. “The most frustrating part is just seeing all the people come out and seeing them be turned away.”

The pastor said he is now considering whether to keep the food distribution events scheduled. He said the church is set up to receive the food weekly through March.

“But with two turn-aways, people might not come back out,” he said.

Greater Works, a church in Monroeville, received its 1,300 boxes of food through the same USDA program on Saturday, the Rev. Gary Mitrik said.

He said the church didn’t receive food last week because of icy road conditions. But he said people, including volunteers, still showed up because official word that the food would not be delivered did not come until later in the morning.

“We had cars waiting in line for miles long. There was nothing we could do about it. So we encouraged everyone to come back this week, and I think they did,” Mitrik said. He said every one of the 1,300 boxes were handed out on Saturday to around 700 cars.