Tyrone High School’s Youth Action Network (YAN) delivered a check for $384 to the Tyrone Area Food Bank on Friday, November 14.  The check represents half of the $768 donated by families attending the YAN Halloween Event at the high school October 28th.  The other half of the money raised will go to the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Turnout for the Halloween event was nearly 700 people, well beyond what the organizers had expected.

According to food bank volunteer Jean Bressler, the Tyrone Food Bank currently serves between 160-200 people in the Tyrone and Bellwood communities.  Bressler said that YANs donation will go specifically towards purchasing food for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

“This Thanksgiving the Food bank is giving out $20 vouchers for families to buy meat for their holiday meal.  The meats include turkey, ham, chicken, and hamburger,” said Bressler.

“We are very pleased to be able to donate to the food bank, and we would like to thank everyone who has helped us along the way” said YAN President Mark Lewis.

The other organization that will receive money from YAN is the Panzi Hospital in the DR of Congo.  This hospital in central Africa mostly known for its support for survivors of sexual violence.  It’s founder has won several international human rights awards. YAN has been a supporter of this hospital since the club began several years ago.

YAN members were “stunned” and “pleasantly shocked” by the number of people at the event, said YAN faculty advisor Cummins McNitt and plans are already underway for next year.

“We hope to expand it next year ,” said McNitt, “we will change a lot of the activities and add more fun for the night.  We also plan to only use the first floor of the school instead of two.”

The YAN club is a service organization at the high school that is dedicated to raise student awareness about issues both locally and globally.

“YAN is a great way for students to learn about others and increase empathy for others” said McNitt.