Kitty Norton, a petite woman with silver hair and a quick smile, stacked boxes of cupcakes on a shelf at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s onside pantry, The Market, shortly before 1 p.m. on Thursday. Moments later, she was placing ears of corn in the produce section. She moved efficiently. Outside, people needing food were lining up. Soon they’d be coming through the door.

That’s Norton’s favorite part of her day as a volunteer — guiding the families and individuals through the aisles and helping them with the food that will sustain them.

Norton, 87, has been volunteering at the pantry in Duquesne since 2020. Her husband, Duane, had died a few years earlier, she explained. The couple had been married 57 years. 

“I just needed to get out,” she said. “So this is good. People always need food.”

Eric Stalnaker of Monroeville fills a bin with bags of onions at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s onside pantry, The Market. (Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

A few aisles away, Eric Stalnaker of Monroeville filled a bin with bags of onions — he checked the bags to make certain the onions were usable. He set aside bags containing onions showing signs of decay, so those onion will be removed; the usable onions will go back on the shelf.

He volunteers three to four days a week. 

“I see this as a way of addressing food insecurity,” he said. “It’s unacceptable that anybody would go hungry in this country.”

People volunteer at the pantry for a number of reasons — for some, it’s good exercise; others appreciate the social aspects, working with others to fulfill a need.

The need right now is “critical,” says communications specialist Christa Johnson.

“Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is experiencing a critical shortage of volunteers at our warehouse.

“We normally struggle with a severe shortage in January after the holidays, and this year has been even more challenging with the cold temperatures creating an additional barrier for folks to volunteer.”

“We normally see a dip in the number of volunteers after the holidays, but this year we’re seeing more people come through our doors for food. We’re hopeful the community will step up to make sure we have the manpower to feed our neighbors,” said Maria Montaro, manager of corporate and community giving.

The greatest need for volunteers is in the Food Bank’s onsite pantry, The Market, during business hours Monday through Friday. The Food Bank is short about 75 of the close to 500 volunteers per week it needs to feed the community across all 11 counties it serves.

Volunteers are needed for 3½- to four-hour shifts that could include:

• Preparing food for distributions.

• Stocking shelves in The Market.

• Bagging items or weighing food at The Market.

• Assisting families as a shopping buddy in The Market.

• Helping families register/get food at distributions.

Individual volunteers ages 18+ can sign up at pittsburghfoodbank.org/volunteer. To schedule a group to volunteer, email the volunteer team at volunteer@pittsburghfoodbank.org. Groups of five to 15 volunteers are most helpful to the organization.

Teamwork is key for John and Helen Beres of Baldwin as they load shelves at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s The Market. (Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Pittsburgh Union Progress

The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.