Webinar: Community Needs Due To COVID-19 – April 16, 2020

On April 16, 2020 the Think About Energy Briefing held its second webinar of the month, with today’s segment focused on highlighting several leading non-profit and community organizations across the Commonwealth. These organizations discussed the increase demand for their services due to COVID-19.

“Our briefings are about raising awareness and expanding the discussion around energy development,” said moderator George Stark of Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation. Stark continued, “Our goal today is the same: to raise awareness and help drive resources so these organizations can continue to support our neighbors during these difficult times.”

Jane Clements-Smith kicked off the discussion highlighting the impact Feeding Pennsylvania has felt as a result of the pandemic. “Food access is our number one issue right now. Panic buying has caused shortages and made it harder to receive donations or even purchase food for many families,” said Clements-Smith who acts as Executive Director for the program.

Joe Arthur, Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, explained how his organization has had to adapt due to social distancing orders. “We needed a lot more space, so we set up a large, off-site central packing operation because we learned, early on, that we couldn’t fill the amount of crisis response boxes and also keep all our workers safe in our two hubs, Harrisburg and Williamsport.” Arthur went on to explain how demand for food delivery has already increased by over 50% from last month.

Gene Brady is Executive Director at the Commission on Economic Opportunity/Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank. Brady illustrated creative partnerships his organization is undertaking. “We are partnering with the dairy industry to help deliver milk and other dairy products to the needy in our region,” said Brady. Due to shelter-in-place orders, school-age children may have difficulty accessing meals through their schools. Brady said through support of the local school districts they are still able to provide meals to those in need.

While schools and most businesses are closed due to the pandemic, there are still many opportunities to help the community. Cristine Clayton, who serves as the Executive Director of Commonwealth Charitable Management, discussed the positive benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program. “The EITC program is a way businesses can give back to the communities in which they operate,” said Clayton. “The educational needs are expected to be felt long after this pandemic is over,” concluded Clayton.

Josh Whiteside, Executive Director of The Educational Partnership based in southwestern Pennsylvania, discussed the importance of ongoing support for education. “As we have heard of budget deficits in the billions of dollars for the Commonwealth, we can’t let education funding be a casualty of COVID-19,” Whiteside said. “Let your legislators know that education must be a priority in the upcoming budget.”

The Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania was represented by Executive Director Lisa Hannum. “The stress created as a result of stay at home orders, businesses closings and social distancing orders only make matters worse in a home that has domestic violence,” said Hannum. It is critical that services for those who may be victims of domestic violence not be overlooked.

George Stark of Cabot Oil and Gas concluded the program with a plea to the audience. “I am asking each attendee to please send this to two people. That is it. Use your network to help spread the word on how we can help these organizations, and others like it, to continue to do the great work that they do.”

For more on today’s Think About Energy Briefing, including ways to support these organizations, please visit https://www.thinkaboutbriefing.com/covid-19-response.

Speakers

  • George Stark
  • George Stark

    George Stark is the Director of External Affairs for Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation. In this role, George directs external and internal outreach including government affairs, advertising, media relations, corporate social responsibility, and
    communications campaigns. He also oversees efforts in building community relationships and furthering workforce development and natural gas utilization within the industry.

    In addition to his roles on several oil and natural gas industry organizations, George currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce and the Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains.

    He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Dickinson College and is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh. Prior to Cabot, George worked at Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania/Maryland for 15 years and most recently held the position of Director of External Affairs during his tenure. He lives in Wheeling, West Virginia with his wife and three daughters.

  • Jane Clements-Smith
  • Jane Clements-Smith

    Jane Clements-Smith was appointed Executive Director of Feeding Pennsylvania, the state association of Feeding America food banks, in June of 2015.  Serving as a statewide voice on hunger issues, Jane spends her time advocating for policies that support hungry families on both the state and federal levels.  Under her leadership, Feeding Pennsylvania has launched a number of new initiatives, including Fill a Glass with Hope ®, the nation’s first statewide charitable fresh milk distribution program, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, and American Dairy Association North East; the Mid-Atlantic Regional Cooperative (MARC), a produce cooperative that distributed 22 million pounds of produce to 25 food banks in its first year; and the Healthy Pantry Initiative, a new program in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health that will incentivize pantries to increase healthy food and beverages for the people they serve.

    In her role, Jane serves on the state’s Mass Care Feeding Task Force through the PA Department of Human Resources and oversees a Disaster Response Committee, responding to both in and out of state disasters.  In 2017, Jane was appointed by the Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture to serve on the Emergency Food Assistance Advisory Council and she also serves on the Lieutenant Governor’s Veterans Task Force as well as Governor Wolf’s Food Security Partnership.

    Prior to joining Feeding Pennsylvania, Jane served as the Annual Giving and Fundraising Event Officer for The Guthrie Clinic, a nonprofit integrated health system located in north central Pennsylvania and Upstate New York.  In this capacity, Jane was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s major fundraising events and internal annual giving campaigns. Before that, Jane worked for Chesapeake Energy, the second-largest producer of natural gas in the United States, as a manager in corporate development, overseeing all community relations, outreach, and education in Chesapeake’s northeastern Pennsylvania operating area.

    Jane lives in Harrisburg with her husband, Mark, and their daughters, Louise and Olivia.

  • Joe Arthur
  • Joe Arthur

    Joe Arthur was appointed Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in 2012, after serving four years as Associate Director. Joe also served as a volunteer Board Member with the Food Bank from 2000 through 2005 and served as Board President in 2004 and 2005. Prior to joining the Food Bank, Joe worked for 23 years in finance and accounting management, primarily with Pennsylvania community banks.

    As the Food Bank’s principal ambassador, Joe presents regularly on the issue of hunger in Pennsylvania and nationally to community groups, legislative gatherings, government partners, prospective donor organizations, and other forums. Joe is a leader in anti-hunger work through his engagement as a Board Officer for the associations Feeding Pennsylvania, Hunger Free Pennsylvania, Hunger Free Lancaster County, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Produce Cooperative of food banks. Joe is also a national council representative at the Food Bank’s national affiliate, Feeding America, as well as a member on the Governor’s Food Security Partnership and Pennsylvania’s Emergency Food Assistance Advisory Committee. Joe is a member of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg, the Estate Planning Council of Central Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

    Joe is a proud alumnus of Penn State University, holding a B.S. degree in Accounting. Joe and his wife Deb are the proud parents of Josh and Tara, also Penn Staters, and live in Manheim, Lancaster County, PA.

  • Gene Brady
  • Gene Brady

    Gene Brady is the Executive Director of the Commission on Economic Opportunity / The Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank. The Regional Food Bank distributes these products to charitable organizations feeding the needy throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania. These include food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, group homes for the disabled, day care centers, children’s camps and senior citizens programs. In the last year, the Weinberg Food Bank distributed over 5 million pounds of food to more than 160 agencies.

  • Cristine Clayton
  • Cristine Clayton

    Cristine was born and raised in New York. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Albany School of Business. As a management consultant for Ernst & Young, she worked with various Fortune 500 companies. Since joining the Foundation in 2011 she has completed major upgrades to our website, scholarship processing, administrative systems, and internal processes to better serve our donors and scholarship recipients. Cristine is the Executive Director for Women Helping Women and Veterans Education Training & Support (VETS). She lives with her family in Susquehanna County.

  • Josh Whiteside
  • Josh Whiteside

    Josh Whiteside is the Executive Director of The Education Partnership. The Education Partnership provides school supplies for students and their teachers in low-income schools in Southwestern PA. Our vision is for a community that is invested in meeting the needs of local students and their teachers. Students helping students, teachers helping teachers, communities helping schools.

  • Lisa Hannum
  • Lisa Hannum

    Lisa Hannum is the Executive Director of Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania. The mission of Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania is to increase awareness of domestic violence and its effect on the community, to empower those victimized by providing advocacy and safe and effective services, and to work for social change designed to eliminate domestic violence.

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