PHILIPSBURG/CENTRE COUNTY, Pa — The Centre County YMCA held a number of Free Milk Saturday drives in Centre County Saturday morning. They were preceded by their food distribution event that they do biweekly on Saturdays.
The giveaways began at the Moshannon Valley Enterprise Center in Philipsburg, and they gave away jugs of milk at several locations in the area, including a number of fire halls in Philipsburg.
Mel Curtis, the Director of Anti-Hunger Programs at the Centre County YMCA, says as time goes on, each distribution has been getting busier.
“A lot of these people have not gotten back to work, a lot of people had to take lesser-paying jobs, so what’s happened is we’re now starting to see those people, you know, they’ve basically used up their savings," he said.
Despite Governor Tom Wolf announcing the state will relax restrictions at the end of the month, Curtis says we are still a long way from being free and clear.
“You know, there’s still a tremendous amount of uncertainty," he asserted. "I mean with the latest strain which seems to be, you know, affecting the children more, that's created a concern for like grandparents and things like that, so it makes it difficult, you know, families are up against tough situations right now.”
Something that was put into focus early on in today's event.
“As of roughly eleven o’clock (this morning), we have already seen 176 families; there will be stragglers that will still be coming in because it is scheduled fromto go from ten to twelve," he said. "So within the first hour, when you see that volume of people, you know that there’s some serious problems out there.”
Curtis believes that there is no better feeling than to help someone when they need it most, and for many families, that time is now.
“I mean, it’s the greatest feeling in the world to know that you know at the end of the day, you go home and you know that you made a difference in someone’s life, and I think thats the way our volunteers are, they’re very passionate about helping others.”
Curtis says the YMCA intends to keep having these drives for the foreseeable future because the demand remains.
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