Nazareth Area Food Bank Gets $20k From Northampton County Council

Northampton County Council last night unanimously decided to give the Nazareth Area Food Bank $20,000 from its slush fund, politely called its "contingency account." It will go to building renovations at the recently purchased Lackawanna Freight Station Building, located at 529 S. Main Street in downtown Nazareth.

This building, valued at $300k, was sold to the food bank by Essroc for half that price. St. John's Lutheran Church and Old Castle Corporation kicked in $80k to help with the purchase. It feeds 160 families.

Last night marks the first time this food bank ever obtained any sort of public funding. But before the vote, there were lots of hard questions. Amazingly, they came from the very same council that tripped all over itself to promise $50k for Shiloh Baptist Church for a halfway house, which has an abysmal track record with public money.

Council member Charles Dertinger asked why Nazareth is not yet affiliated with Second Harvest, which ensures fairness in its food distribution. And Ron Angle, the Northampton County Bulldog, wondered whether council is opening the door to all sorts of requests from other food banks. "I don't want people who need food to go hungry, but what happens when other food banks come and ask?"

This certainly is a worthy project, as evidenced by council's unanimous vote. Council Prez Ann McHale actually said it best. "Our job here is to help the needy." But it's also true that no financials were submitted, at least not during the public meeting. No provisions were made to ensure that the money would actually be used for the stated purpose. All too often, the "needy" happens to be someone who knows someone.

Instead of just handing out money every time some voting block comes forward, shouldn't Northampton County Council establish a procedure to evaluate finances and need? Shouldn't there be some oversight? After all, it's not their money; it's yours.