Sign up for one of our email newsletters.
Updated 13 hours ago
Lisa Daurora reached across the conveyor that separated her from the woman waiting to fill her box with food.
She handed her a package of mixed berry yogurt. “This looks delicious,” she said.
What brought the women together at that moment was more than need. Daurora of Pittsburgh said she was inspired to volunteer at the Westmoreland County Food Bank on Thursday by country music singer Martina McBride and her charity work across the country.
“She's amazing. She's an angel,” said Daurora, who, along with her husband, Ron, has volunteered for McBride in Nashville, Punxsutawney and other cities.
McBride brought her “Team Music is Love” initiative to the Delmont location prior to her sold-out show Thursday night at the Palace Theater in Greensburg. She is touring in support of her 2016 album, “Reckless.”
Among the volunteers who distributed food to 300 people was a small group of fans brought in by McBride. Her schedule did not permit her to attend.
“She's a very giving music artist, and she has a very giving fan community,” said Sheila Jones, director of “Team Music is Love.”
Jones said McBride tries to support a local charity in every city where she appears. Her current “Love Unleashed” tour covers about 50 cities.
“Some of these are like pickup basketball games,” Jones said, where people spontaneously show up to help at places such as hospitals, homeless shelters and food banks. “It's almost every town where they identify a need.”
At the Westmoreland County Food Bank, McBride's organization gave both monetary and volunteer support to Operation Fresh Express, a weekly food distribution that is suspended during the winter months for logistical reasons.
The distribution usually is held at food pantries throughout the county from March through December. Food bank spokeswoman Jennifer Miller said McBride's support made it possible to hold the event at the 43,000-square-foot warehouse in an “off” month.
“This program really does fill a need,” Miller said. “It helps out with odds and ends that they would not be able to afford on their own.”
As a long line formed, volunteers prepared to hand out loaves of bread, baked goods, frozen meats, fruits and vegetables, rice, spaghetti sauce, tortillas and a variety of other items. Most of the food was donated, including pre-expiration-date meat from Giant Eagle, Miller said.
Chuck Galvin, 78, of Hempfield and his wife, Karen, 74, gave away bakery items. They've been volunteering for Operation Fresh Express for about two years, mostly at the Church of Jesus Christ food pantry in Hempfield.
“You can just tell there's a lot of need,” Chuck Galvin said.
“The people are always so grateful and so amazed at the amount of food,” Karen Galvin said.
Those who came to Thursday's distribution received invitations from the monthly food pantries affiliated with Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church in Murrysville, Cornerstone Ministries in Export and St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Avonmore.
Longtime volunteer coordinator Maxine Pellis, who handed out bread and dessert items, said McBride was setting a good example for other celebrities. “It's a special treat to have one here,” she said.
“We don't get a lot of stars who want to come to Greensburg,” Miller said.
As Madeline Van Dyke, 31, of Export waited in line, she said she was getting food for her three daughters — ages 6, 3 and 18 months.
“My kids love the fresh stuff. I guess they're kind of weird that way. They love salad,” she said.
Van Dyke said her family needed the extra help because her husband had lost his construction job.
Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1280 or shuba@tribweb.com.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
