Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank partners with groups to make a difference

The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank helps people in the Pittsburgh area, but they don't do it alone. Different organizations pitch in and make deliveries.Something as simple as a strawberry can bring so much joy."The most powerful thing was when we showed up, there was a little girl sitting on the steps, and before I could even leave the house, she had taken the strawberries out of the box, washed them off and was eating strawberries because she just loved strawberries," said Walter Lewis, CEO of Homewood Children's Village. "That was just a beautiful moment to me, and what it means to people, because a lot of folks have lost jobs."Homewood Children's Village partners with Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Lewis delivers healthy food to families in the Homewood area."This food was a lifesaver to a lot of families. We've heard folks say, because they didn't have cars or transportation, they wouldn't have known what they would have done if it wasn't for some of the food distribution," said Lewis.Bible Center Church has transformed its building into a food distribution center and makes deliveries. Stephan Davis is a member of the church that has partnered with the food bank as well."During tough times you have the option to either lay down or decide to do something different," said Davis. "Our food distribution is three days a week. We are serving roughly 270 families each day, two meals."Davis said Homewood is a food desert, which is a community that lacks resources such as grocery stores with fresh produce."We're an oasis in a desert community, and so our goal is to service the community with whatever it needs," said Davis.Lewis said when he makes deliveries, he also makes friends who want to keep the spirit of giving going.Lewis said, "Probably my favorite moment is I delivered a meal to a mom, and then later I got a text message saying, 'Hey I know of someone else who is in need of food. Are we able to help them?' First I was excited because she said 'we,' and I'm like, yes, this is us, we are in this together.""What we try to do is just be human in the way that we are doing it, right? Like, we all need food and it could be me tomorrow, it could be you tomorrow," said Lewis.Workers at the food bank say they plan to take their service to the next level."We have a very special announcement coming next week that's really based on our strategic vision that started in 2015, a 10-year vision for the food bank to serve the community in a different way," said Charla Irwin-Buncher, chief development officer at the food bank.Pittsburgh's Action News 4 will update the story once more information about the initiative is available.