Over the last 10 years, the Commission on Economic Opportunity says 128 million pounds of food have gone out the doors of the McGowan Center for Healthy Living.
As she marked the Weinberg Northeast Regional food bank’s 10th anniversary, Executive Director Jennifer Warabak said it’s important to celebrate the service they’ve been able to provide, even as they wish there wasn’t as much need in the community.
“We’re celebrating all the volunteers and the supporters that we have,” she said. “Everything we do - packing senior food boxes, packing emergency boxes - is all volunteer-based.”
Warabak said the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank in Pittston has seen requests increase by 23 percent over the last year. By working with community organizations and food pantries, the food bank distributes boxes of food to people in need throughout Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties.
Staff and volunteers marked the food bank’s 10th anniversary on Thursday, gathering in a new expansion to the facility.
The extra 15,000 square feet adds more space for volunteers to pack those food boxes, according to staff member Gretchen Hunt.
“It’s a lot bigger, a lot more functional,” she said. “We were also able to add two additional loading dock doors…and another 1,500 square feet of cold storage in terms of refrigeration.”
Hunt led tours around the existing 50,000 square feet of warehouse space. Pallets of donated food lined the aisles, but the space is hardly ever fully stocked. Hunt says that’s a testament to how quickly the food bank is turning over its supply in response to growing need.
“Every year we're distributing more product than the year before,” she said.
The Commission on Economic Opportunity says the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank distributed 17.6 million pounds of food in 2024 in the form of take-home groceries or prepared meals.
Food Bank Director Mary Ellen Spellman said the expansion also adds space for more pallets of food while enhancing the volunteer experience.
“I think it adds a significant amount of dignity and respect for the mission of CEO,” she said. “It adds another level…of who the intended product is for and the work that we’re doing here.”
‘People helping people’
Banners and artwork decorate the food bank’s new expansion.
Four banners hanging from the ceiling recognize the memory of four of the food bank’s supporters: Monsignor Andrew McGowan, former CEO; Executive Director Gene Brady; Judge Hugh Mundy and former CEO staff member Rich Kutz.
Warabak said Brady and Kutz were instrumental in opening the food bank 10 years ago, and Brady first imagined the expansion project during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think (Brady) would just be very genuinely proud of all the staff and how we collectively have stayed together to just keep the mission moving forward,” Warabak said. “Because that was important to him, making sure all the staff were on board and they believed in what they did every single day.”
McGowan, for whom the food bank is named, and Mundy each served as the chair of CEO’s board of directors.
On the farthest wall of the volunteer space is a photo and memory of James Blewitt, a staff member of CEO who passed away in 2023. Warabak said his time with CEO was “just not enough.”
Joan Blewitt, James’ mother, came to the celebration with others from the Blewitt family. She said her son found his passion working with the food bank and running the Senior Food Program.
“He just truly loved the work and wanted to help other people,” she said. “He found that here.”
She said while James never looked for praise, she was proud to see him recognized in the place he loved.
“I’m just so proud of my son,” she said.
