Western PA Search and Rescue Development Center

🧡 THE CALENDAR SAYS HUNGER ACTION MONTH IS ALMOST OVER. HUNGER DIDN'T GET THE MEMO.
September may be coming to an end, but empty cupboards, stretched grocery budgets, and families wondering how they're going to make it to the next payday aren't going anywhere.
At WPSARDC, we see firsthand how much of a difference a bag of groceries can make. Sometimes it's a family trying to get through the week. Sometimes it's a senior choosing between groceries and prescriptions. Sometimes it's someone who never imagined they'd need a little help.
That's why our fight against hunger doesn't end on September 30.
Our Food Market Days continue year-round, and so does our need for community support. Whether it's a few cans of soup, a box of cereal, household essentials, or a monetary donation, every contribution helps us put food into the hands of our neighbors.
Here's one last challenge for Hunger Action Month: Before September ends, pick up ONE extra item on your next grocery trip and donate it. Imagine the difference we could make if everyone did just that!
September brought awareness. Let's make sure October, November, December, and every month after bring ACTION.
🧡 Because hunger doesn't take a month off. Neither do we.
🌐 www.wpsardc.org

🧡 HUNGER DOESN'T END WHEN SEPTEMBER DOES! 🧡

As Hunger Action Month comes to a close, one thing remains the same: People in our community will still need food on October 1st, November 1st, and every day after that.

At Western Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Development Center (WPSARDC), fighting hunger isn't limited to one month. It's a year-round commitment to our neighbors, and we need YOUR help to continue making a difference!

🥫 DONATE FOOD! We accept food of ALL kinds, including canned goods, pantry staples, fresh produce, refrigerated foods, and frozen items.

🛒 DONATE GIFT CARDS! Grocery store gift cards allow us to purchase the items our community needs most, when we need them.

💚 MAKE A MONETARY DONATION! Your financial support helps us purchase food, replenish supplies, and continue serving our community.

🌐 Donate online: [www.wpsardc.org](http://www.wpsardc.org)

📍 Donation Drop-Off: 1405 Frey Road, Penn Hills, PA 15235

Whether it's a single bag of groceries, a grocery store gift card, or a monetary contribution, your generosity would be greatly appreciated! Every donation, big or small, helps us put food on the tables of our neighbors who need it most.

Hunger Action Month may be ending, but hunger isn't. Neither is our commitment to fighting it! 🧡

Can't donate right now? PLEASE SHARE THIS POST! You never know who might see it and decide to help.

HOME | WPSARDC non-profit Western Pennsylvania Search & Rescue Development Center Missing Persons, Homeless Outreach, Human Trafficking, Adults with Disabilities and Autism, Alzheimer's Western Pennsylvania Search & Rescue Development Center

🚗 HOW PREPARED IS YOUR CAR?

An emergency doesn’t always happen when you’re at home.

Take a few minutes to put together a small emergency kit for your vehicle:

🧣 A blanket or extra warm clothing
💧 Bottled water
🍫 Non-perishable snacks
🔋 A charged portable phone power bank
🩹 Small first-aid kit
🦺 Reflective vest or roadside warning device
🔌 Jumper cables or a portable jump starter

And don’t forget to check your spare tire — having one doesn’t help much if it’s flat when you need it!

September is National Preparedness Month, and being prepared can start right in your driveway.

🎃 WESTERN PA — YOU DON’T HAVE TO COME TO KENTUCKY TO JOIN US!

Our Graveyard Gallop 5Kis happening October 30 in Lexington, Kentucky—but there’s a VIRTUAL 5K option, and we would LOVE to see our Western Pennsylvania WPSARDC family get involved. 💙

You don’t need to travel. You don’t need to be at the starting line. You don’t even have to be a runner.

Register for the virtual 5K, choose your own route, and complete your 3.1 miles wherever you are.

🏃 Run it.
🚶 Walk it.
🐕 Grab the dog.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Get the family involved.

Have your Graveyard Gallop race shirt mailed to you, put it on, and represent WPSARDC from Western Pennsylvania—or wherever you happen to live!

Most importantly, your registration supports WPSARDC–Bluegrass Division and helps us continue growing the outreach programs serving the Lexington community.

Our Bluegrass Division may be hundreds of miles away, but it’s still part of WPSARDC—and this is an easy way our Pennsylvania supporters can help make what’s happening there possible.

💙 3.1 miles. Your route. Your pace. Our mission.

🎃 Choose the Virtual 5K option when you register:

[Register for the Graveyard Gallop Virtual 5K](https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/Lexington/GraveyardGallop5KRunWalk?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

📣 Like and share this one! We’d love to see Graveyard Gallop shirts walking and running around Western Pennsylvania this fall. 🎃👟

Graveyard Gallop 5K The Graveyard Gallop 5K is on Friday October 30, 2026. It includes the following events: 5K Run/Walk, Virtual Runner/Walker, and Race Volunteer.

🔦 WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CHECKED THE BATTERIES IN YOUR FLASHLIGHTS?

Having flashlights around the house is great—as long as they actually work when you need them.

During a power outage, you may be trying to navigate stairs, check on children or pets, find medications, or locate emergency supplies in complete darkness.

Take a few minutes and do a quick flashlight check. Turn every flashlight on, replace weak or dead batteries, and check the battery compartments for corrosion if they’ve been sitting unused for a while.

🔋 Keep extra, fresh batteries in your home in the sizes your flashlights require—and keep them in a designated place everyone in the household knows about. The middle of a power outage is not the time to discover nobody knows where the spare batteries are.

Keep flashlights in more than one area of the house, especially near bedrooms, and somewhere you can reach without having to cross a dark room to find them.

📱 And remember—your phone has a flashlight, but during an extended outage, you may need that battery for communication.

Preparedness doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it’s simply making sure the things you already have will actually work when you need them.

💙 September is National Preparedness Month.

📣 Like and share—and go check those batteries!

💙 WESTERN PA, MEET BLUEGRASS!

You’ve been following what WPSARDC is doing here in Western Pennsylvania—now we’d love for you to come see what we’re building a few hundred miles south in Lexington, Kentucky!

Our WPSARDC–Bluegrass Division is bringing the same mission into a new community through street outreach, our monthly Food Market, community events, preparedness education, and more.

It may look a little different in Kentucky, but the purpose behind it is the same: bringing resources into the community and connecting people with the help and information they need.

💙 Head over and follow the WPSARDC–Bluegrass Division page. You’ll see what’s happening in Kentucky, what we’re working on next, and ways you may be able to help support the work happening there—even from Western Pennsylvania.

👉 [Follow WPSARDC–Bluegrass Division on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=wpsardc-bluegrass+division&utm_source=chatgpt.com)

And while you’re there, give them a little Western PA love—like, comment, and share! 💙

One organization. More communities. Same mission.

🧡 HUNGER ACTION MONTH: TAKE ACTION WITH US.

Talking about hunger matters. Doing something about it matters even more.

This September, during Hunger Action Month, we’re asking our WPSARDC community to turn awareness into action.

The next time you’re grocery shopping, add a few extra items to your cart. Cereal. Peanut butter. Pasta and sauce. Soup. Canned chicken or tuna. Breakfast foods. Snacks. Something your own family would be happy to have on the table.

You don’t have to fill an entire cart to make a difference. One bag of groceries is action. One box of cereal is action. One donated meal is action.

🥫 Want to donate food? Call our main office at 412-856-HELP (4357) to arrange a time to drop off your donation at WPSARDC.

📍 1405 Frey Road
Penn Hills, PA 15235

💵 Don’t have time to shop? Monetary donations also help us purchase the foods and supplies we need most.

[Donate or learn more at WPSARDC.org](https://www.wpsardc.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Hunger Action Month isn't just about recognizing that food insecurity exists.

It’s about deciding what each of us can do about it.

🧡 Take action. Add something extra to your cart and pass it on.

📣 Like and share. Someone on your friends list may be looking for a way to help.



[1]: https://www.wpsardc.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "HOME | WPSARDC non-profit Western Pennsylvania Search & Rescue Development Center"

💙 HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!

There’s something pretty special about the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren.

Grandparents are often the keepers of the family stories—the ones who remember what things were like before Google, have advice for just about everything, and somehow always seem to have a snack somewhere. 😉

But they’re also teachers, caregivers, role models, and a steady presence for so many families.

Today, take a little time to celebrate the grandparents in your life. Make the phone call. Stop by for a visit. Bring the grandkids over. Share a meal, take some pictures, laugh a little too loud, and enjoy being together.

Grandparents have a pretty incredible way of connecting generations—passing along traditions, cheering on the next generation, and adding a whole lot of love (and usually a few extra snacks) along the way. 💙

Happy Grandparents Day from all of us at WPSARDC!

👍 Like and share to help us celebrate the grandparents in our community!

🥫 1 IN 9.

That’s not a statistic from somewhere far away.

That’s Allegheny County.

About 1 in 9 of our neighbors experience food insecurity. For children, that number is approximately 1 in 6.

But food insecurity doesn’t always mean an empty refrigerator.

Sometimes there is food in the refrigerator—just not enough to make it to payday.

It can mean a parent skipping a meal so their children can eat. A senior buying less food because a prescription needs filled. A working family putting groceries back at the register because the total is higher than they expected.

It can mean eating what’s left instead of what’s nutritious.

And sometimes, you would never know a family is struggling just by looking at them.

That’s why food assistance in our communities matters—and why the food donated to WPSARDC matters.

A box of cereal. A jar of peanut butter. A few cans of food.

To you, it may be something small.

To someone trying to make it to the next paycheck, it may be breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

📣 Share this post. Hunger isn’t always visible, but it is happening right here in our community.