Since serving its 20,000th meal back in August, The Friendship Table has continued to see an increase in the amount of meals it serves each day.
According to Assistant Manager Joe Doriguzzi, as of Wednesday, the total take-out meals served since March 15 was 35,570. If meals served before March 15 are added in, it totals to over 40,000. In contrast, in 2019, the yearly total was 32,649 meals.
“We used to have an average of 120 people a day. Now, we’ve had a few days averaging at 200,” explained Doriguzzi. “There have been a lot of new people the last few weeks.”
Initially the facility expected take-out meals to slow down due to the colder weather, though they still had around 135 people, even the night of a snowstorm. During a regular week, the facility now serves around 1,000 meals.
With other local organizations providing Thanksgiving meals to local residents, The Friendship Table holds their Thanksgiving meal on the Wednesday before. In preparing for the feast, the facility would love to see donations of frozen pies, canned vegetables, canned sweet potatoes and even turkeys.
Donations of non-perishable goods are also welcome year-round, especially with the increase in use this year. To make a donation of food or a monetary donation, contact the Friendship Table at 814-362-6658.
“Whether someone donates $500 or stops in and drops off $2, every bit helps,” said Doriguzzi.
The facility is currently running on a bare-bones staff of 10 volunteers due to the pandemic, whereas typically they have dozens of people they rotate out throughout the year.
“We have a really good crew of volunteers, all the same people working since March 10. The board had a meeting and decided that was the best way to keep people safe,” Doriguzzi explained.
Meals are currently being handed out from 3 to 5 p.m, Monday through Friday, with patrons receiving a hot meal to go, along with a bag lunch to tide them over until the next day. The facility will continue to provide take-out meals until it is deemed safe to resume dine-in meals.
