A newly-installed pantry box in Scottdale is meant to help feed the community.
On Saturday, Lucas Hardik, with help from his father, Larry, and his Boy Scout troop installed a blessing box outside the Scottdale Elks Lodge 777. The blessing box was Lucas’ project to become an Eagle Scout, a rank he will earn this year after a board review.
“I just hope it can spread more awareness,” Lucas said. Lucas belongs to Troop 160, which is sponsored by the Everson Civic Club in East Huntingdon Township.
Jim Ernette, Lucas’ troop leader, said the project is “setting the template for other Elks lodges in the area.” He hopes the project will be brought to the attention of the national chapter.
Blessing boxes are small food pantry boxes, typically placed outside, which operate on the basis of “take what you need, leave what you can.”
The box, which is on the Stoner Street side of the building, is in the center of town, making it accessible for many, Larry Hardik said. It will be open year-round.
“Anybody can donate, and anybody can take (items),” he said.
Karen Ritch, the lodge’s exalted ruler, said the lodge has members who will keep the box stocked if no one is donating items.
Carol Hardik, Lucas’ grandmother, thinks it will be a welcome addition to the community.
“There’s definitely a need,” Carol Hardik said. “There’s another blessing box in the community, and it’s well received.”
The other blessing box is outside the Scottdale Public Library on Spring Street.
According to a National Institutes of Health study, micro-pantries operate on a different model than many food banks, which might require applications or background checks or have specific operating hours.
The study says, too, that their discrete nature helps reduce food insecurity stigma and fill immediate, sort-term gaps between grocery trips and standard pantry distribution.
Westmoreland Food Bank Executive Director Jennifer Miller said the boxes serve as a great complement to larger organizations such as food banks.
“They offer help anytime, right there in the community,” Miller said. “Food banks help distribute food but also connect our clients with resources throughout their communities. We’re able to help step in and fill the gaps left by things like changes to SNAP benefits.”
According to 2024 data from national nonprofit Feeding America, more than 12 million seniors and older adults experience food insecurity nationally.
“I’d say thanks to anyone who takes part in hosting these boxes, filling them and helping feed their neighbors,” Miller said.
The Scottdale project was born out of a collaboration between the Elks and the Boy Scouts after Larry Keslar, one of the lodge’s trustees, reached out to the Hardiks with the idea.
The project aligns with other programs the organization runs such as food distribution, Keslar said.
“To help the community … that’s what the Elks is about,” Keslar said. “We appreciate the community helping to do that.”