The Speed Family Blessing Box & Pantry Inc.

For those in need, this Penn Hills 'blessing box' answers prayers

Chelsey Speed grew up in some pretty tough circumstances in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood, so she knows first-hand the pain and shame of going without.

 

Her father was a seasonal roofer, making money tight when the weather turned cold; when her older sister, Nina, got pregnant with twins during her senior year of high school, it got harder still to make ends meet, despite her mother working multiple jobs.

 

By age 14, Mrs. Speed took a series of part-time jobs after school to help the family squeeze by — she took four buses to get from Carrick High School to the McDonald’s airport location — and she babysat her nephews so her sister could finish summer school and graduate.

 

The now Penn Hills resident said, “I saw a lot of struggle and struggled myself,” all the more so after she lost her father to a massive heart attack when she was just 16.

 

As a single mother herself in her early 20s, Mrs. Speed often was so strapped for cash she sometimes had to choose between paying her electric bill and feeding her oldest daughter, Malayah. Occasionally, she skipped meals while working and going to school so her daughter could eat.

 

Her luck changed when she met her husband, Cameron Speed, at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital 12 years ago. “He taught me to trust again and to dream big,” she says.

 

Today, he’s the hospital’s food & nutrition patient services manager and she works as a quality and pay for value specialist at Allegheny Health Network while also earning her bachelor’s degree in health and hospital administration at Carlow University online.

 

The couple share a love of community service that, for Mrs. Speed, stretches back to her volunteer days with the Salvation Army during high school. As their blended family has grown to include two more children, they’ve done numerous service projects with Baptist Temple in Homewood. They’ve also volunteered with A Second Chance, which is facilitating the adoption of their fourth child, 1-year-old Dakota, next month.

 

Having come from a place of hardship, “We’ve very purposefully taught the kids the importance of giving back, and to appreciate what we have,” Mrs. Speed, 36, said. “I want them to be willing to help everyone and anyone, even if it’s just lending an ear to listen.”

 

So when people starting losing their jobs last year because of COVID-19, the Speeds felt they had to help those who were struggling. But how?

 

The family already had some experience reaching out to neighbors hurt by the pandemic. When a neighbor could no longer run his handyman business because of social distancing restrictions, they let him do jobs in their own home after masking up. Her daughters Malayah, 17, and Catalina, 6, also took him meals and little extras so he knew the family was there for him, she said.

 

“My kids wanted to help more people. We decided, we have to do better as a community.”

 

Scrolling through Facebook one day last summer, Mrs. Speed noticed picture after picture of tiny free “libraries” and food boxes some people had set up in their front yards. Wouldn’t it be awesome, she thought, to build a box, fill it with food and basic supplies and let people take what they need, no questions asked?

 

“Blessing boxes” or “share boxes,” as these mini food pantries are known, have popped up all over the U.S. during the pandemic to fight a surge in food insecurity and needs. Based on the honor system, the concept is simple: Take what you need and leave what you can.

 

And so the Speed Family Blessing Box was born.

 

They reached out to anyone who might know a carpenter who could construct them a box until a friend of a friend suggested Bill Dolcich, the Baldwin woodworker who runs Side Gig Woodworking on Etsy and Facebook. It took him about two weeks to build the 4-foot-high box from treated wood and install it just off the curb, with a door that sits high off the ground so people can grab needed items without getting out of their car. Malayah painted it red, the color early Americans associated with the word “welcome.”

 

The anonymity of the project was important to the Speeds, because many people are embarrassed or ashamed to ask for help, and would never knock on someone’s door for a handout. “It’s a terrible feeling and no one should be in that situation,” she said.

 

Mrs. Speed started the project slowly, stocking the box each day with nonperishable, everyday pantry items such as peanut butter, jelly and canned goods. To get the word out, she created The Speed Family Blessing Box page on Facebook on Aug. 18 and made daily posts about its progress. The page quickly took off, and now has more than 400 followers, a base that includes those who’ve benefited from their generosity, and those who’ve donated items.

 

Within just a month, so many friends and neighbors were donating goods that the family had to put most of their garage belongings in storage to make space for growing stacks of cans, jars, boxes and bottles. But it also meant they had the means to expand the effort and offer entire boxes of supplies, including personal care and baby items, to those who connected with the Speeds on Facebook. It was no longer just a blessing box dispensary, but also a curbside food pantry. It is available to anyone who reaches out for help and can pick up items at their home at 105 Richmore Drive in Penn Hills.

 

Mrs. Speed also has been know to make house calls. She recalls a teen calling her landline one day because her caregiver couldn’t get to Penn Hills. She met the girl in a grocery store parking lot, “and she was so excited to see a box of cereal, my daughter was in tears. It broke my heart.”

 

Since their effort’s launch, the family has received many letters cheering them on and some have even chalked blessings on their driveway. They also get frequent shoutouts on Facebook.

 

She said, “There hasn’t been one negative comment,” with community support so strong they were even able to bless 13 families with wrapped gifts for their kids at Christmas.

 

Today, the Speeds supply almost 100 families with monthly boxes her children compile, in assembly-line fashion, on their living room floor. And they hope to reach even more underserved people in 2021; any day now, The Speed Family Blessing Box officially is to become a tax-exempt, charitable organization.

 

To streamline requests and prevent waste, Mrs. Speed has created a form on the Facebook page for recipients to list the number and ages of family members, what items they’re hoping for (if available) and what day is best for pickup. She’s also made it easier for others to contribute by creating an Amazon wishlist. Monetary donations can be made through Zelle, Paypal and Venmo.

 

Mrs. Speed also posts about resources that could be helpful to families on the Facebook page as as she learns of them, such as links to 211.org, and publicizes food distribution events and fundraisers, such as their upcoming cookie sale on March 6.

 

The most popular items, she noted, are those you can’t purchase with food stamps — toiletries, including diapers, wipes and toilet paper, and cleaning items like laundry soup.

 

Because the boxed items don’t always last a month, the red box is refilled every day to bless those in need with a little extra to hold them over.

 

“We’re just trying to help people help themselves,” Mrs. Speed says. “This is a tough time, and not everyone has the strength to fight or advocate for themselves.”

 

You can find more information about the Speed family blessing box at https://www.facebook.com/TheSpeedFamilyBlessimgBox.

 

Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1419 or on Twitter/IG @gtmckay.

 

First Published February 28, 2021, 5:45am