Pittsburg, PA
How Christopher’s Kitchen is helping the community | Sunday Spotlight
Inside the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh and Lemieux Family Center everyone knows Joni D’Alessandro. She worked professionally doing hair and nails and she’s Italian, so food is her love language, and she keeps this kitchen packed with non-perishable food.
“If you have the need, we’re there,” D’Alessandro said.
She’s there providing more than just sustenance while simultaneously keeping her stepson, Christopher’s, memory alive. She said, “There’s not anything that I do, that Christopher isn’t in it.”
Christopher was only 16 when he committed suicide. “Only anybody that is in that club, and nobody wants to be in that club knows the hurt,” said D’Alesandro.
Early on in her grief, she volunteered to paint nails at UPMC Children’s Hospital.
“They would tell me about their children, about their life, about coming in as a middle-class family and leaving bankrupt,” she added.
D’Alesandro said parents would spend money every day to get necessities like water bottles and food. So, that’s when she got the idea to open a free 24-7 community pantry and kitchen, in medical settings, for the parents and guardians of pediatric patients.
Now there are two Christopher’s Kitchens at UPMC Children’s Hospital, and two at Children’s Home where pediatric patients stay as a transition after leaving the hospital.
“Families are so focused on their child’s care, which they should be, but they still need to be nourished. That’s what Christopher’s Kitchen is providing,” said the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh and Lemieux Family Center, Director of Development, Taylor Dozier.
“From a few days, if they’re just here to get some feeding training, or they could be here for months, depending on if they’re waiting for something like at-home nursing care.”
So, Christopher’s Kitchen now helps 13,000 families on average, every year with only volunteers. “We’re not doctors, we’re not nurses we’re not care workers. We’re not case managers we’re just there to help out in that moment that you need something quick,” Christopher’s Kitchen volunteer, Kate McDermott, said.
An even quicker necessity the non-profit opened 16 water stations at local hospitals. Parents show their gratitude for the food and nourishment when they’re spending countless hospital hours by their kid’s side.
Christopher’s Kitchen is completely funded by donations. “Pittsburgh is just such an amazing town for that kind of thing, and it allowed us to come into here who is like, I think the ultimate,” D’Alessandro said.
Every cent goes back into the non-profit to provide more food to feed the caretakers of hospitalized kids, in a time of need. It’s ultimately saving our community time, money, and stress while keeping Christopher’s memory alive.
The non-profit can always use volunteers, donations, or community members hosting a food donation drive. For more information on Christopher’s Kitchen and how you can help click on this story, click here.
Gas prices continue to sit near the $5 mark for the better part of the Pittsburgh region. Not only is it impacting people’s wallets, but it’s also hitting the bottom lines of first responders’ operations.
While gas prices are not impacting day-to-day operations, budgets are always tight, and if prices stay high, it could have some long-term impacts. First responders say they’ll still come when you call 911, so there’s no need to panic, but there is some concern behind the scenes.
“We can’t charge more for our services. The only way to weather the storm is to become more efficient,” Regional Emergency Support Quick Response Service director Mike Gallagher said.
RESQRS said gas is normally about $2,500 to $3,000 a month. From March to April, it was $5,500. The ambulance they wanted to get this year is now on hold as costs go up.
“It definitely has affected other parts of the business and how we operate,” Gallagher said over Zoom.
It’s the same for volunteer firefighters. Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services had its bill go from $300 to $400, up to $1,000 last month. This price spike was, of course, never anticipated when making the budget last year.
“It absolutely wasn’t. We just have to take money from other things and reprioritize,” SAVES fire chief Mike Daniher said.
Medic Rescue in Bridgewater, Beaver County, covers that county and takes patients to Wexford and Pittsburgh hospitals. They easily rack up hundreds of miles a day driving. Insurance doesn’t cover gas spikes, and fuel reimbursements are set from the prior year.
“I don’t see how it would be sustainable in the long term without some changes in financing,” Medic Rescue director of operations Bill Pasquale said.
An immediate impact for many services is putting new equipment on the back burner. While grants can be used for that, there’s no guarantee it’s accepted.
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh will have afternoon storm chances on Wednesday with gusty winds and lightning
It will be stormy this afternoon, and then cooler for the rest of the work week.
Temperatures then warm up with record-setting temperatures possible early next week. It’s going to be a busy stretch of weather. Let’s get right into it.
Rain chances today are low overall. The headline is the storm chance that occurs this afternoon. Gusty winds, frequent lightning, and isolated but intense downpours are expected as a narrow line of storms develops and rolls through Western Pennsylvania. The line of storms will be intensifying as it moves from the west to the east.
Right now, it looks like the storms will roll through between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
By the time you see this blog, our best chance for morning rain should have come and gone. Rain totals will not be very impressive today; most will see less than 0.05 inches of rain.
That excludes rain coming from afternoon storms.
Afternoon storms could add another fifth of an inch of rain for those who see the most ‘intense’ cells sliding through their areas. Temperatures in the morning are in the 50s. We will quickly rise up to the mid-60s for temperatures this afternoon ahead of storms. Temperatures will then dip back down to the 50s for the rest of the day, with brisk winds coming in from the northwest at around 15 mph.
Thursday highs will only hit the mid-50s.
We stay cool through Friday morning. We’d have to worry about frost on Friday if it wasn’t for the cloud cover that’s expected. Friday highs will be near 70°. Saturday and Sunday highs are expected to hit the low 80s both days.
A perfect ‘storm’ of low humidity levels, plenty of sunshine, and a strengthening sun angle will allow us to potentially see record highs early next week. I have high temperatures in the 90s on both Monday and Tuesday next week.
The record high for Monday is 91°, and that is what I am forecasting for a high.
A small kitten was tied up in a bag and thrown from a moving pickup truck in Warren County, Pennsylvania State Police said.
State police posted on the PSP Tips Facebook page on Tuesday, asking for help figuring out who threw the kitten out of a moving vehicle on Conewango Avenue in Glade Township around 6:45 p.m. on May 4.
Troopers said the kitten, estimated to be six to eight weeks old, was tied up in a black disposable bag. The kitten wasn’t hurt. Police shared a photo of the tiny gray kitten perched on a trooper’s shoulder.
Investigators described the vehicle involved as a white, single-cab Chevrolet pickup truck with no registration plate and rust on the body of the truck. It was seen heading north on Conewango Avenue around 6:45 p.m. on May 4, so anyone with cameras in the area is asked to check their footage between 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. that night.
Anyone with information is asked to contact state police in Warren at 814-728-3600 and ask for Trooper Holsopple or Corporal Koebley. People can also call the PSP Tips line at 1-800-472-8477 or submit a tip online.
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