Volunteers with a local nonprofit tracing its roots to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic spend every other Saturday morning loading cars with protein, produce, nonperishables and other staples at their Midvalley-based food pantry in Dickson City.
It’s not unusual for those who rely on the pantry to start lining up well before the drive-thru distribution begins at the Dickson City Community Service Building, 2 Eagle Lane, where the Valley Village of Volunteers, a small but mighty group battling food insecurity in Lackawanna County, supplies income-eligible county families and individuals on a biweekly basis.
It’s an invaluable local resource in a state where, according to Feeding America, one in eight people and one in six children face hunger. And it continues as grocery prices climb, with the consumer price index for grocery store or supermarket food purchases having recently increased by 0.7% from March to April, per figures released by the federal government. The “food-at-home” CPI was 2.9% higher in April than in April 2025.
Volunteer Lola Kranick, left, and Vice President Kristen Warholic, right, pack bags at the Valley Village of Volunteers’ food pantry in the Dickson City Community Building on Thursday, May 28, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
“We have about 120 families that come through (and) about 270 individuals represent those family makeups,” Valley Village of Volunteers Vice President Kristen Warholic said of the food pantry. “Over 50% of the people that come through our line are elderly, living on pensions or Social Security, and it doesn’t really go far, so without having a food pantry to help support and supplement their needs there would be times that they wouldn’t have anything on their table.”
“We also have a population of people who’ve lost their jobs,” she continued. “They’re coming through the line for the first time almost upset that they have to be there, but we try to provide them with support to let them know that’s what we’re here for. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’re here to support them and help them through it.”
The goal of supporting neighbors in need is what originally motivated the volunteers during the pandemic, when they began delivering free groceries to senior citizens in Olyphant unable to leave their homes amid the public health crisis. That early effort then expanded into an impromptu food pantry serving the Midvalley community from borrowed space in Olyphant’s ambulance building on East Park Street before later relocating to Dickson City in late 2022, after a relatively brief hiatus, Board Member Lola Kranick confirmed.
Cans sit on a shelf at the Valley Village of Volunteers’ food pantry in Dickson City Community Building on Thursday, May 28, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The Valley Village of Volunteers registered as a nonprofit and took steps in the intervening time to become an official affiliated food pantry with the CEO/Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank, the source of much of the food it distributes biweekly. But the group also fundraises and otherwise works to supplement what Weinberg supplies so it’s able to provide full grocery bags to the people it serves, sometimes with the support of local companies, Warholic said.
“Last year we actually had no meat for two months,” she said. “We had two local companies, Envy Electrical and Kleinbauer Mechanical, both of them donated meat for us … and that sustained us for three different distributions. So we rely heavily on that type of community involvement as well.”
On the Saturdays when the pantry is active, volunteers arrive early to start packing the food for distribution. The goal is to provide families and other beneficiaries with a bag of dry goods, a bag of produce and a bag of frozen products, including a protein.
“It’s only every two weeks, but we try to get at least two or three meals for the families packed that they can use to supplement their needs,” Warholic said. “We are able to get milk once a month, so we actually use our fundraising efforts to get milk for the other week in the month.”
Milk is just one of the many examples of key items the nonprofit raises funds to acquire for those it serves.
(Left to right) Valley Village of Volunteers members Victor Milani, Treasurer Jack Horvath, Vice President Kristen Warholic, Lola Kranick, Mary Ann Eglesia, Debbie Borusiewicz and Mariella Selvenis pose in the group’s food pantry at the Dickson City Community Building on Thursday, May 28, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Asked about the upward pressure on grocery prices, Kranick noted the relatively large number of older adults on fixed incomes who rely on and benefit from the pantry.
“Even when I go to the store, I’m amazed at how much things cost,” she said. “That increase came on groceries and produce but it didn’t come on a Social Security check.”
The Valley Village of Volunteers welcomes any support that will help it meet its mission, be that on the volunteer side or in the form of monetary donations.
“But we also would like community support,” Warholic said, again referencing the Envy Electrical and Kleinbauer Mechanical donations. “We need more of that to support the initiative to really fill in those gaps.”
Individuals looking to volunteer or donate to the organization can reach out via its Facebook page or by emailing vvvnepa@gmail.com. The Valley Village of Volunteers is also one of the many nonprofits participating in the annual NEPA Gives 24-hour fundraising blitz that kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. More information is available at www.nepagives.org.
Income-eligible Lackawanna County residents seeking food support via the pantry can register on-site during the distributions. The next one is scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon. Subsequent distributions during the summer months will run from 10-11 a.m., beginning June 20.
Warholic stressed that the organization is dedicated to making sure that no family goes hungry.
“That’s what we’re there for,” she said. “We’re there to help them through those challenging and difficult times.”