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Photo Courtesy of Warming House website
BY: BROOKE JOHNPIER, STAFF WRITER
The Warming House, founded in 1974, recently received a $4,000 grant from the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation. The soup kitchen located in Olean, New York is currently the longest-running student-run kitchen in the country.
The Renodin Foundation provides grants for programs that are predominantly in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties in New York and McKean County in Pennsylvania. The foundation gives grants to programs that follow the tradition of the Franciscan Sisters. The foundation’s mission is to help the needy and underprivileged.
Kylee Leonard, a sophomore health sciences major, is a second-year coordinator of the Warming House. She said the grant benefits the mission of the Warming House.
“The latest grant is incredibly important to the Warming House, much like all of the grants and donations we receive,” said Leonard. “These grants and donations provide funds for the Warming House to continue feeding hundreds of people a month.”
Mike Waseda, assistant director of the Franciscan Center for Social Concern, said that this specific grant is for housekeeping supplies and food.
“The people with the Renodin [Foundation] are good with us and give us the grant every year, but this $4,000 was additional,” said Waseda. “[This] is because we have been serving more than we used to.”
Over the past six years, the Renodin Foundation has continuously helped the Warming House, according to Alice Miller Nation, director of university ministries.
“We are always grateful for the support of the Renodin Foundation, which has been a benefactor of the Warming House for years,” said Miller Nation. “As we work to build an endowment to sustain the Warming House for years to come, grants like these are vital for us to provide daily meals to the underserved members of our community.”
This grant is going to help to purchase take-out containers, as the Warming House does both dine-in and take-out options, according to Waseda.
“We make sure that we have enough funds to run and keep serving the community in need,” said Waseda. “We need to be sure that we can be open not just today or next month, but for a long time.”
johnpibl23@bonaventure.edu
