NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2014
Media Contact: Natalie Schrimpf 216.269.6525, x. 2520 or
(Cleveland, OH) — The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Diocese of Cleveland will distribute 1,000 frozen turkeys and five-pound bags of potatoes on Thursday, December 18 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. to needy residents in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood, thanks to the generosity of Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. This is the eighth year that the local commercial construction firm has donated turkeys and potatoes to the SVDP Woodland Food Pantry, which is one of the largest food pantries in Northeast Ohio and serves some 1,700 impoverished individuals monthly and more than 20,000 annually. The turkeys and potatoes will be distributed at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland parking lot located at 2561 East 59 Street, adjacent to the Carl B. Stokes Building (6001 Woodland Avenue), which houses the SVDP Woodland Food Pantry. Although there is no advance registration, recipients will be required to show proper identification.
The Central neighborhood is home to some 10,717 residents living in poverty, according to Greater Cleveland Food Bank statistics. The Woodland Food Pantry — formerly Brother Hubbard’s Cupboard — was previously managed by the Capuchin Franciscan Brothers from 2004-13, and provides approximately 543,000 pounds of food annually to residents. Fortney & Weygandt has been donating holiday turkeys and sacks of potatoes to the pantry since 2006.
In addition to the Woodland Avenue location, SVDP Cleveland operates five other food pantries in Northeast Ohio: John Paul Pantry, 8328 Broadway Avenue in Cleveland; Southwest Pantry, 2145 Broadview Avenue in Cleveland; Father Mike Wittman Pantry, 13824 Euclid Avenue, East Cleveland; St. Agnes Pantry, 611 Lake Avenue, Elyria; and Fr. Hilkert Pantry, 93 Kent Street in Akron.
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