Since military veteran Larry Owens started receiving free food in the local N.O.W. food giveaway, it’s enabled him to use his income for bills and other expenses.
He is helping to spread the word about the food distributions to other disadvantaged veterans.
Owens and dozens of other veterans were among the first served Saturday when volunteers loaded boxes of free groceries into the cars of about 2,000 recipients outside of New Hope Wesleyan Church in Neshannock Township.
The sun was shining, but frigid temperatures in the low 20-degree range didn’t stop volunteers — aged from 10 to senior citizens — from eagerly and diligently loading cars with food-filled boxes. Members of the Boy Scout Troop 733 of New Wilmington were among the helpers.
It was one of many free food distributions that have taken place countywide since COVID-19 has resulted in job layoffs and permanent job losses and kept many people restricted to their homes.
For the first one-and-a-half hours, only the cars of veterans could line up for the food.
Boxes of groceries also were loaded onto trailers bound for Mercer County, where they would go to VFW posts there.
Hugh Coryea, organizer of the event, said he expected between 200 and 250 veterans to drive through the line before it was opened to the general public. Altogether, about 2,000 people would likely be served.
Owens, 64, lives in the Sheep Hill area of New Castle and served in the Air Force from 1975 until 1980.
“I’m considered a Cold War veteran,” he said, “and I’m a second-generation Air Force veteran.” He was born in England while his father was in the Air Force. He was a computer operator three years at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, and two years in Borfink, Germany.
He started getting the free food this year, learning about it from a neighbor.
“I think it’s great,” he said, adding that he appreciates it. He was pleased with the array of produce — melons, carrots, apples, onions and potatoes — along with other wholesome products such as milk, canned and dry goods, oatmeal, cereal, vegetables, meat and fish, that he has received.
Owens participates in the Veteran X program, which is run by Veterans Empowering Veterans. The group meets at 6 p.m. every Tuesday at the Lawrence County Cares Center and is a way for former military to encourage each other and help with their needs.
“If I see somebody with a veterans hat or shirt or any service names, I’ll go up and tell them about our program,” he said. “They bring people in to help solve veteran problems and learn where we need to go for different things.”
Locally 10 to 15 people belong to it, he said. “We let them know about the food giveaways and it helps to spread the word.”
Bradley Alan, veterans affairs director of Mercer County, attended Saturday’s event with his own trailer and stacked it with 100 boxes of food to take to the Mercer, Farrell and Hickory VFW posts. Alan has been working with local veterans organizations in Mercer County who are interested in passing out the food.
“We’re working to help those in the communities who are staying home and live in rural areas,” Alan said. “It’s really for the veterans and their family members and those with disabilities. There are a lot of rural areas and elderly veterans who have to pay people to go to the grocery stores for them.”
The veterans’ distribution was coordinated by Coryea, a Navy veteran who served during peacetime from 1985 to 1989.
The distribution is part of the Nourishing Others Well-being (N.O.W) project that was organized by Drs. Mark and Jill Kauffman. The food comes from the Pittsburgh Food Bank, and the federal government also donates food.
According to Coryea, every food giveaway starts with a distribution to about 200 of those who have served in the armed forces. Then the line of cars is opened to the general public to receive the goods.
On Saturday, there were three tractor-trailer loads of more than 3,000 boxes of food supplies to give out. The bounty for each recipient included a gallon of milk, chicken, yogurt, hot dogs, potatoes, apples and box of dry and canned goods such as fruit, soups, macaroni and cheese, egg noodles and vegetables.
“We’re also giving away 500 gallons of milk extra, too,” Coryea said of Saturday’s event.
“We’ve been doing this since June,” Coryea said of the veterans provisions. “This is the fifth one this year. We always do for our great veterans. A goal is to get the American Legions and VFWs on board to distribute the food from their command posts.”
