When Whitehall resident A.J. Owen received thousands of dollars in anonymous donations for the pop-up food bank he recently started in his front yard, he was astonished and began to cry.
He then posted a TikTok expressing his gratitude and shock, and that video has been viewed 19.1 million times and has received just over 4 million likes.
“There were just hundred dollar bills, lots and lots of hundred dollar bills,” Owen said. “There was no name or contact information – just thousands of dollars.”
Owen had begun his own pop-up food bank to help support community members who have faced uncertainty over SNAP benefits during the government shutdown. His is one of several such efforts in the area.
“This past Wednesday, I saw 40 cars come through during the day,” Owen said of his drive-up, self-serve food bank. “I knew then that people are hungry, people deserve to be fed, and I can confidently say we helped hundreds of families.”
The food bank had begun with one storage tote of food and two coolers, and has grown to 10 storage totes full of donations due to the TikTok fame of his viral video. It is really encouraging, Owen said, to see that so many people care.
“Gov. (Josh) Shapiro called us last night to thank us for being great Pennsylvanians by helping people in this terrible time,” Owen said.
Another surprising interaction was with Pittsburgh Steeler Yahya Black, who, with his fiancée, donated $400 of groceries.
“They were humble and genuine,” Owen said. “They were the best people. Literally, next week they are bringing more food and more people.”
The past two weeks have come as a shock to Owen.
“To say that I expected that a Pittsburgh Steeler or the governor to be calling me would be lunacy,” Owen said.
There is often a quick turnaround for the food. Owen said that he recently received a donation of two dozen bottles of Ensure, and within three minutes, another family came and picked them up.
His two sons, 7 and 9, were a big motivator for Owen. In turn, they have helped by stocking the food and assisting people in picking up donations.
“I told them that people might not have food,” Owen said. “They said. ‘Dad, let’s go buy food,’ ” Owen said.
Initially, his sons wondered if anyone would come to take the donations.
“My youngest son was worried that no one would show up, and I said, ‘If we help one person, we did everything,’ ” Owen said.
In the past two weeks, they have helped hundreds of families obtain their weekly groceries. Their pop-up food bank has also brought Owen closer to his community, even though it is under unfortunate circumstances.
“This initiative has shown me that people are good, people want to help, and it just takes a singular spark to start that fire,” Owen said.
Baldwin business and computer teacher Michelle Kilburn was inspired by Owens’ recent project and decided to restart one of her own. Last year, she organized an effort to provide bags of food to kids in need in each of the district’s schools.
Once again, Kilburn is aiming to send a message to her students with the project.
“I am hoping that with our conversations in class, my students realize that there is a real need in the community every day, not just around the holiday season. You never know what someone else’s struggles are,” Kilburn said.
Kilburn is currently collecting food donations and requests that students submit their donations by the end of Monday.
Meanwhile, Scarlett Stockhausen, a student in Bethel Park, was inspired by the local pop-up food banks and decided to start one of her own. She began the bank by buying items herself and was assisted by her family.
“I buy the food myself, and my family helps to donate food when they can,” Stockhausen said.
Stockhausen’s awareness has allowed her to react to the current situation and provide for those who need it most.
“I see everything going on around our world and in our country, especially with SNAP being shut down this month, and I wanted to help,” Stockhausen said.
All of these efforts to help struggling people throughout the country have made a big impression on Owen.
“This whole experience has blown my mind,” Owen said. “I have thousands of people on social media … sending pictures of food banks that they have started on their own.”
And these past few weeks have underscored a key idea for him.
“Needing food is not controversial,” Owen said. “There is no stigma attached to needing help, especially when you are hungry.”
