Where did the money go? $140,000 in donations have been the topic of conversation surrounding the soon to be closing Pottsville Soup Kitchen, the Catholic Charities, and the Diocese of Allentown.
We met up with volunteers that serve through the soup kitchen in Pottsville recently, who have voiced their concerns in what they believe to be missing donation money.
“Two years ago, the director Terry received an anonymous donation for $100,000 and later an additional $40,000 for upkeep of the soup kitchen in Pottsville, in order to keep the kitchen running. The money was to be for anything Terry needed to keep daily operations running smoothly” as reported by Jeffrey Dunkel. That day eventually came, as the Soup Kitchen needed a standing upright refrigerator. “She needed to jump through hoops to get money that was supposed to be sitting there waiting for her to use it.”
As reported by Dunkel, when asked where the $140k had gone, the Catholic Charities reportedly claimed that the “money was invested.”
A following breakdown was given to us of the money that was donated. $100k was donated in 2023 for day-to-day operations. An additional $40k was donated in 2024 again, for day-to-day operations, and another $30k was donated in 2024 for minor repairs and concrete.
“Two years ago, the director Terry received an anonymous donation for $100,000 and later an additional $40,000 for upkeep of the soup kitchen in Pottsville, in order to keep the kitchen running. The money was to be for anything Terry needed to keep daily operations running smoothly” as reported by Jeffrey Dunkel. That day eventually came, as the Soup Kitchen needed a standing upright refrigerator. “She needed to jump through hoops to get money that was supposed to be sitting there waiting for her to use it.”
As reported by Dunkel, when asked where the $140k had gone, the Catholic Charities reportedly claimed that the “money was invested.”
A following breakdown was given to us of the money that was donated. $100k was donated in 2023 for day-to-day operations. An additional $40k was donated in 2024 again, for day-to-day operations, and another $30k was donated in 2024 for minor repairs and concrete.
Dunkel stated that “this $140k could easily operate the kitchen for 5 plus years. The $40k check went missing and the donor was asked to reissue it. The odd part of that is the request to reissue and the acceptance date were well after the knowledge of the diocese that the kitchen itself would close. The donor was not aware and again, not honoring donor intent. How can you accept a check earmarked for one facility, ethically, knowing that you have plans for an inevitable closure."
More questions were raised as the Catholic charities launched their new food truck in Minersville, even having an event of the “Blessing” of the food truck. It was at this event that the volunteers of the soup kitchen were told by word of mouth that the food truck is not an addition to the Soup Kitchen, but is to be replacing the soup kitchen.
More questions were raised as the Catholic charities launched their new food truck in Minersville, even having an event of the “Blessing” of the food truck. It was at this event that the volunteers of the soup kitchen were told by word of mouth that the food truck is not an addition to the Soup Kitchen, but is to be replacing the soup kitchen.
Dunkel stated, “I got a call from someone who was at the “blessing” saying, hey, did you know the soup kitchen was closing? We were shocked, especially at the lack of transparency and communication.”
Volunteer David Resnick told Skook News, “I’ve been helping out with the soup kitchen for over 20 years, even my kids were here helping when they were little, it’s been that long. I’ve since had co-workers from my job at Hydro volunteer with me, and our company even sponsors dinners two nights a month here. Running this kitchen is a community effort, and we should be working together, not against one another. Terry Alexander (director of the Soup Kitchen) has done a phenomenal job running this place. She has been getting blamed for all the bad press, but it’s the volunteers questioning the decisions being made behind everyone’s backs, and the lack of transparency.”
Both Resnick and Dunkel identified that they are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Soup Kitchen open, including an offer from another local non-profit Dustin’s Adventureland to buy the building off of St. Patrick's Church. Their plan is to do whatever is necessary to keep serving local residents daily, and to serve the community. These efforts have fallen to silence, and lack of answers from the Catholic Charities.
Emails were given to Skook News following the communication, or lack thereof, between Andrea Nagle (the managing director of the Catholic Charities), and the responses to questioning where the donations have gone, have ended up in threats of lawsuits by the Catholic Charities. It should be noted that over 400 meals are served at the Pottsville location weekly, however there is a major lack of representation from Schuylkill County, that the Catholic Charities thought it was only 15 meals a day. Nobody from the county serves on the board, as it is claimed there is a “lack of interest.”
Resnick and Dunkel both informed Skook News that there were offers made to the Diocese and Catholic Charities to come by last week to the Soup Kitchen to see what the community outreach was like, and to see all the individuals that were served. That way they would be able to ask questions, and possibly seek understanding of the decisions being made. Unfortunately, nobody responded, or even showed up to help. There is no communication with the volunteers as of the point to communicate when the food truck will be in the area, how many days, where, etc.
Dunkel reported “the truck has been going to locations such as the Fairlane mall, where the food banks are being run. Let me be clear, I think the addition of the food truck could be a great thing in outreaching the communities surrounding Pottsville. But we have people of the community such as homeless, families that don’t have access to a vehicle, veterans, elderly citizens, etc. that cannot get a ride up to the mall, or other areas in the community to get a meal. There have been little to no announcements as to where this truck is going to be daily. They are only going to have this truck serving Pottsville at most once a week, but likely once every other week.”
Resnick and Dunkel are both seeking answers, mainly “to find out where this money is, and why isn’t it being used as it is intended for.”
In the emails shared with Skook News, director Andrea Neagle stated that, "Catholic Charities, Diocese of Allentown is committed to serving the hungry throughout all of Schuylkill County. Since June, we have served over 3,500 meals to anyone in need, all across the county. A large majority of those meals have been served from the Catholic Charities Community Café, our new food truck. Those who may be hungry in Pottsville will continue to be served via the Community Café food truck when food service operations are fully moved to the central operating kitchen in Minersville later this month.” Additionally, the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Allentown objected to the possible suggestion that the funds had been improperly allocated, and referred back to a form 990 that could be made available.
Instead of working together on these exigent matters, there have now been threats from the Diocese, “We ask you to cease making these statements, and we advise you that your continued dissemination of these false statements may be actionable under applicable laws” in an email written by Andrea Neagle to Dunkel. The continued lack of transparency from the Diocese and the refusal in the emails to address specifically were the donations, specifically earmarked from the St. Pat’s soup kitchen, have gone leads to many questions. In addition, the volunteers feel that there have been misleading statements given to them by different members of the Charities, church and Diocese. This leads to uncertainty surrounding what is true and false leading into the future of the soup kitchen.
A 62-year-old retired construction worker named Keith, on social security who was injured made the statement that “if this place closes down, for me it means a loss of a meal, baked goods, etc. There is no place in this town to go for a hot meal that doesn’t cost $10-$15.”
Additionally, Cheryl Burgess pointed out that the donations made to the Soup Kitchen were made out to Soup Kitchen via check, not to the Catholic Charities or Diocese of Allentown. Furthermore, pointing out that shutting the kitchen down is not as the donor’s intended. Neagle herself stated in an email that the “Diocese of Allentown honors donor intent.”
Burdess stated, “when the refrigerator broke last winter, and we were forced to store the food on the back porch to keep things cold, we were told that that money had been invested, and that we could not use it to replace the refrigerator."
Then why is the Soup Kitchen being closed, as this was clearly not the intent of the donor’s. The questions now remain, when will the Soup Kitchen be closed? Will there be communication? Where did the donations go? Will they be returned? If invested, where did the money go to? Even more concerning, how will the community make up for the 1600 meals that are being taken away from the Kitchen on Mahantongo St. in Pottsville?
Dunkel added, "What will the growing number of patrons do for meals? The city is addressing and increasing concern of homelessness, and this closure just adds more problems. Sadly, approximately a quarter of the meals are elderly or children, our most vulnerable population. How can the Diocese and Catholic Charities literally turn their backs on these folks with very little thought or gameplan. They have no idea when the kitchen will close, where this food truck will be and how to get meals otherwise. This is a potential crisis that no one wants to talk about and needs to be addressed immediately. We encourage any supporters, businesses, warehouses or organizations that would like to help us keep this facility going, to please email us at dustinsadventureland@gmail.com. One thing we can all appreciate about the Skook is we take care of each other when times get tough. It's about to get tough for a lot of people.”
Volunteer David Resnick told Skook News, “I’ve been helping out with the soup kitchen for over 20 years, even my kids were here helping when they were little, it’s been that long. I’ve since had co-workers from my job at Hydro volunteer with me, and our company even sponsors dinners two nights a month here. Running this kitchen is a community effort, and we should be working together, not against one another. Terry Alexander (director of the Soup Kitchen) has done a phenomenal job running this place. She has been getting blamed for all the bad press, but it’s the volunteers questioning the decisions being made behind everyone’s backs, and the lack of transparency.”
Both Resnick and Dunkel identified that they are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Soup Kitchen open, including an offer from another local non-profit Dustin’s Adventureland to buy the building off of St. Patrick's Church. Their plan is to do whatever is necessary to keep serving local residents daily, and to serve the community. These efforts have fallen to silence, and lack of answers from the Catholic Charities.
Emails were given to Skook News following the communication, or lack thereof, between Andrea Nagle (the managing director of the Catholic Charities), and the responses to questioning where the donations have gone, have ended up in threats of lawsuits by the Catholic Charities. It should be noted that over 400 meals are served at the Pottsville location weekly, however there is a major lack of representation from Schuylkill County, that the Catholic Charities thought it was only 15 meals a day. Nobody from the county serves on the board, as it is claimed there is a “lack of interest.”
Resnick and Dunkel both informed Skook News that there were offers made to the Diocese and Catholic Charities to come by last week to the Soup Kitchen to see what the community outreach was like, and to see all the individuals that were served. That way they would be able to ask questions, and possibly seek understanding of the decisions being made. Unfortunately, nobody responded, or even showed up to help. There is no communication with the volunteers as of the point to communicate when the food truck will be in the area, how many days, where, etc.
Dunkel reported “the truck has been going to locations such as the Fairlane mall, where the food banks are being run. Let me be clear, I think the addition of the food truck could be a great thing in outreaching the communities surrounding Pottsville. But we have people of the community such as homeless, families that don’t have access to a vehicle, veterans, elderly citizens, etc. that cannot get a ride up to the mall, or other areas in the community to get a meal. There have been little to no announcements as to where this truck is going to be daily. They are only going to have this truck serving Pottsville at most once a week, but likely once every other week.”
Resnick and Dunkel are both seeking answers, mainly “to find out where this money is, and why isn’t it being used as it is intended for.”
In the emails shared with Skook News, director Andrea Neagle stated that, "Catholic Charities, Diocese of Allentown is committed to serving the hungry throughout all of Schuylkill County. Since June, we have served over 3,500 meals to anyone in need, all across the county. A large majority of those meals have been served from the Catholic Charities Community Café, our new food truck. Those who may be hungry in Pottsville will continue to be served via the Community Café food truck when food service operations are fully moved to the central operating kitchen in Minersville later this month.” Additionally, the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Allentown objected to the possible suggestion that the funds had been improperly allocated, and referred back to a form 990 that could be made available.
Instead of working together on these exigent matters, there have now been threats from the Diocese, “We ask you to cease making these statements, and we advise you that your continued dissemination of these false statements may be actionable under applicable laws” in an email written by Andrea Neagle to Dunkel. The continued lack of transparency from the Diocese and the refusal in the emails to address specifically were the donations, specifically earmarked from the St. Pat’s soup kitchen, have gone leads to many questions. In addition, the volunteers feel that there have been misleading statements given to them by different members of the Charities, church and Diocese. This leads to uncertainty surrounding what is true and false leading into the future of the soup kitchen.
A 62-year-old retired construction worker named Keith, on social security who was injured made the statement that “if this place closes down, for me it means a loss of a meal, baked goods, etc. There is no place in this town to go for a hot meal that doesn’t cost $10-$15.”
Additionally, Cheryl Burgess pointed out that the donations made to the Soup Kitchen were made out to Soup Kitchen via check, not to the Catholic Charities or Diocese of Allentown. Furthermore, pointing out that shutting the kitchen down is not as the donor’s intended. Neagle herself stated in an email that the “Diocese of Allentown honors donor intent.”
Burdess stated, “when the refrigerator broke last winter, and we were forced to store the food on the back porch to keep things cold, we were told that that money had been invested, and that we could not use it to replace the refrigerator."
Then why is the Soup Kitchen being closed, as this was clearly not the intent of the donor’s. The questions now remain, when will the Soup Kitchen be closed? Will there be communication? Where did the donations go? Will they be returned? If invested, where did the money go to? Even more concerning, how will the community make up for the 1600 meals that are being taken away from the Kitchen on Mahantongo St. in Pottsville?
Dunkel added, "What will the growing number of patrons do for meals? The city is addressing and increasing concern of homelessness, and this closure just adds more problems. Sadly, approximately a quarter of the meals are elderly or children, our most vulnerable population. How can the Diocese and Catholic Charities literally turn their backs on these folks with very little thought or gameplan. They have no idea when the kitchen will close, where this food truck will be and how to get meals otherwise. This is a potential crisis that no one wants to talk about and needs to be addressed immediately. We encourage any supporters, businesses, warehouses or organizations that would like to help us keep this facility going, to please email us at dustinsadventureland@gmail.com. One thing we can all appreciate about the Skook is we take care of each other when times get tough. It's about to get tough for a lot of people.”
Story By Danielle B. / Skook News