NEW BETHLEHEM \u2013 The Rev. Dr. Gordon V. Barrows, mayor of New Bethlehem Borough, issued an official proclamation this week, designating the 2025 holiday season as \u201cDonate to Your Local Food Pantry Season,\u201d and declaring November and December as \u201cDonate to Your Local Food Pantry Months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barrows said the initiative aims to support local families during a period of increased need as the federal government shutdown that began after Sept. 30 has created uncertainty for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for many households.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur communities are strongest when we look out for one another,\u201d said Barrows. \u201cWith SNAP benefits facing uncertainty due to the shutdown, our local food pantries are seeing higher demand. I am asking residents, churches, schools, civic groups, and businesses to step forward with donations, volunteer time, and outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Redbank Valley Food Pantry serves the New Bethlehem area. Many additional food pantries operate across Clarion, Armstrong and Jefferson counties. Residents can find locations, hours, and contacts at RedbankValley.org\/Food-Pantries<\/a>.<\/p>\n To make participation easy, Barrows said his office has prepared a ready-to-use flyer that can be emailed, printed and displayed at churches, grocery stores, workplaces and community boards, as well as shared across social media. The flyer and the full text of the proclamation are available via the borough website at NewBethlehemBoro.com<\/a> and Facebook page Facebook.com\/NewBethlehem<\/a>.<\/p>\n The mayor said local residents can help in the following ways:<\/p>\n \u2022 Donate shelf-stable foods and personal care items.<\/p>\n \u2022 Give monetary gifts that pantries can stretch through bulk purchasing.<\/p>\n \u2022 Volunteer to sort, stock or assist on distribution days.<\/p>\n \u2022 Host a collection drive through your church, business or organization.<\/p>\n \u2022 Share the flyer and resource link with your networks.<\/p>\n \u201cOur community is strongest when we love our neighbors as ourselves; as followers of Christ, let us give generously, serve faithfully, and ensure every table is filled with hope this season,\u201d Barrows said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW BETHLEHEM \u2013 The Rev. Dr. Gordon V. Barrows, mayor of New Bethlehem Borough, issued an official proclamation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,61,5706,7339,7342,9628,28,63,7617],"class_list":{"0":"post-26585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-food-bank","13":"tag-food-politics","14":"tag-malnutrition","15":"tag-new-bethlehem","16":"tag-pennsylvania","17":"tag-social-issues","18":"tag-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}