Food insecurity is a critical issue in Western Pennsylvania. In Cambria county, 1 in every 5 children and youth struggle with access to nutritious food on an ongoing basis (Feeding America). For the past 10 years, the Cambria County Backpack Project (CCBP) has been addressing this critical need by providing easy-to-prepare weekend meals and ready-to-eat foods for young people in 10 Cambria County School Districts. Local grants as well as private and local business donations provide funds for groceries to fill the backpacks. Volunteers pack up those groceries each and every week to send home with over 600 Cambria county students to utilize for weekend meals.
PMSC AmeriCorps has been a part of addressing this critical need for many years. Now, new member Jenna Stancombe, has signed on to be a part of connecting students, in the more rural districts in the northern part of the county, with more efficient access to nutritious weekend meals.
On February 22, 2024, Cambria County Backpack Project officially launched the opening of their Ebensburg auxiliary site with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Jenna’s very first day of service! The new packing site is located in space donated by local Cambria County logistics business, Advanced Shipping Technologies. Immediately, following the ceremony, Jenna, alongside Executive Director, Kristen Villarrial, and Coordinator, Codi Norman, led a team of volunteers to pack weekend groceries for students in Portage Area School district, Cambria Heights School District, Penn Cambria School District, Forest Hills School District and Blacklick Valley School District. What used to take upwards of an hour to deliver from the Johnstown CCBP hub located on Bedford Street, will now be able to be delivered from the Ebensburg auxiliary site. The additional capacity will save valuable time and resources to get the groceries to the students in need. Jenna organizes and maintains inventory, manages volunteers, and coordinates distribution of weekend meals for 200 students at this new auxiliary site.
Stancombe studies Public Health at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and she knows that this opportunity to serve her community is critical, “because to put our community’s children in a position to prosper, is to put our entire community in that same position.” Ever an advocate for children’s health and wellness, Jenna knows that “children are the future leaders of the world. In order to rise to their full potential, basic needs have to be met.”
Getting things done to address critical issues of food insecurity and children’s health, PMSC AmeriCorps and Cambria County Backpack Project together are bringing out the best of America.
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