“On a chilly, misty afternoon in October, a truck rattled to a halt in front of a nondescript brick building in Wilkinsburg, where a small band of musician volunteers began unloading boxes and parcels of food,” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Thursday’s (11/15) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The location was an … agency that provides specialized services to the county’s suburban school districts, non-public, charter and vocational-technical schools…. Meanwhile, three more musician volunteers … launched into a short concert for the staff inside the facility…. The musicians were from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, working under the auspices of 412 Food Rescue, a local organization that seeks to eliminate food waste and connect food with those in need…. In 2009, the League of American Orchestras … joined with Feeding America … to create the national Orchestras Feeding America program. Since its founding, more than 360 orchestras have participated…. ‘Musicians are expanding their roles to being active community participants,’ said former Pittsburgher Jesse Rosen, president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras.” Says Lorien Benet Hart, a violinist in the PSO who began volunteering with 412 Food Rescue in 2016, “It’s been a positive, incredible way to get music out into the community.”
Posted November 16, 2018
In photo: In a Pittsburgh neighborhood, Dan Scullin, left, field operations manager of 412 Food Rescue, and Andres Franco, associate conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, help area resident Bob Demask, right, deliver food on Monday, Nov. 5. Other members of the orchestra performed while food was being delivered. Photo by Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette.
