About The Lion Foundation's Earl Besch Fund...
Earl Besch (1926-2015), a long time resident of Camp Hill Borough, was known for his generosity to others. Earl would regularly reach out to the schools to see if there were families in need. He would offer to buy a bike, a winter coat, pay for camp enrollment or purchase them a Christmas present.
In 2015, his family established a memorial fund in his name to continue his legacy of caring. What started as a memorial fund with The Lion Foundation to honor Earl Besch has grown to a movement that supports two distinct and important programs.
In 2015, his family established a memorial fund in his name to continue his legacy of caring. What started as a memorial fund with The Lion Foundation to honor Earl Besch has grown to a movement that supports two distinct and important programs.
All donations to the Earl Besch Fund at The Lion Foundation, help economically disadvantaged students in
two important ways:
two important ways:
Principal's Discretionary FundsThe Lion Foundation provides each school an annual grant from the Earl Besch Fund to help meet needs of deserving students by covering the costs of field trips, club fees, SAT and testing fees, graduation expenses for caps and gowns, and other essential items. These funds can be used at the discretion of the principal and is replenished to a beginning balance of $1000 at the start of each school year. |
Earl Besch Food PantryOperating in partnership with New Hope Ministries, Camp Hill United Methodist Church, and the Camp Hill School District, the food pantry is open twice a month and will provide case management, housing, basic needs, and employment services for eligible families in need. The Earl Besch Food pantry is located on the campus of Camp Hill United Methodist Church and is open to any CHSD student regardless of religious affiliation. |
Support the Earl Besch FundYou can support The Earl Besch Fund in a number of ways!
340 North 21st Street Camp Hill, PA 17011
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The Earl Besch Food Pantry honors the work of the same-named long-time Camp Hill resident who was committed to serving the needs of students in the Camp Hill School District.
In January 2022, The Earl Besch Food Pantry began operating through a partnership with The Lion Foundation, New Hope, The Camp Hill United Methodist Church, and The Camp Hill School District. This partnership is an organized effort to not only help those in need, but to offer comprehensive support to families and get them back on their feet and experience true stability. We look forward to working with our partners and, of course, the dedicated Earl Besch Pantry volunteers to make this effort a success and ensure all Camp Hill students have the resources they need to thrive. Nearby New Hope Ministries is a community nonprofit agency with 39 years of service in south central Pennsylvania and currently operates food pantries and casework offices that serve the Camp Hill community. Through a newly signed partnership agreement, New Hope Ministries, Camp Hill School District, The Lion Foundation, and Camp Hill United Methodist Church will build upon and transform The Earl Besch Food Pantry into a best-practice food pantry that promotes food security for students of the district and their families and provide volunteer and service-learning opportunities for district students. The Earl Besch Food Pantry will continue to collaborate with wider Camp Hill community organizations, businesses, and churches, welcoming as well as engaging new volunteers while also continuing engagement with existing volunteers in the Camp Hill community. |
Special THANK YOU to these dedicated folks for making this partnership a reality!
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One teen's journey to help neighbors in need.
My name is Emma Chaplin, and I am a senior at Camp Hill High School.
I have been a Girl Scout since I was in kindergarten, and for my Girl Scout Gold Award I chose to find space to create The Earl Besch Food Pantry. It really is an incredible feeling to be standing here in this pantry and see the project come full circle.
The path to this pantry began when Kris Kaleida started a Camp Hill School District Backpack Program for food insecure students sponsored by New Hope Ministries in 2014. The backpacks provided non-perishable food to students on weekends and holidays. The school district had approached the MS/HS PTO leads, Lynette Pertschi and Dana Little, during this time expressing the need for student and family assistance that went beyond food, leading to the establishment of the Earl Besch Project.
A memorial fund created by the Besch Family within the Lion Foundation was seen as the perfect fit to expand the good will legacy of Earl Besch in support of CH students. Backpacks eventually became pantry boxes, which were stored, packed, and distributed out of Lynette Pertschi’s garage.
I came into the picture in the fall of 2019, when I met with Mrs. Kaleida and Mrs. Pertschi at Cornerstone Coffeehouse and asked “where is there a need in our community that I can address?”. The creation of Pantry space was one of the first ideas they had, and by far the most impactful and important. Having an established pantry space would allow the program to serve more students, provide perishable food items and other goods, and allow students and volunteers to get more involved. Along with my advisors, Mrs. Kaleida and Mrs. Pertschi, I spent months communicating with school district administrators and school board members, local church leaders and business owners, and many others in our CH community trying to find space.
As the project was just getting off the ground in 2020, along came the COVID pandemic. All of a sudden the need for pantry space became even more urgent as the list of students and families needing help grew quickly, and the food box distribution became weekly out of the Pertschi garage. We were fortunate to receive temporary pantry space from the Camp Hill Little League who allowed me to set up shelving in their Fiala Building Concession Stand in the summer of 2020. During the height of the pandemic, I felt proud to be a part of serving over 50 Camp Hill families, and over 200 people with each food distribution. When we needed to vacate the concession stand, I received word from the Camp Hill United Methodist Church that we could use their chapel for The Earl Besch Food Pantry.
Thanks to the help of numerous volunteers, including many CH students, the pantry was moved into the space we are standing in today in March of 2021. The pantry was also transitioned at this time from a box program to a choice pantry program. Searching for a pantry site quickly evolved into the realization of the need for an
operational sponsor.
After much discussion, collaborating with New Hope Ministries became the obvious sponsorship solution to further expand the pantry services. The school district administration and school board members voted their support to make the pantry a school sponsored entity. This has created Life Skills learning opportunities
for district students and allowed other students like myself the chance to perform volunteer hours working in the pantry. Again, I have watched the growth of the pantry
come full circle.
After more than two years of planning, revising plans, moving to multiple locations and more than a few roadblocks, I am excited to be standing here today in the Earl Besch Food Pantry with all of you. It took the hard work of some very dedicated individuals and the coming together of many groups in our community who share a common vision to address food insecurity.
I would like to give thanks to the local churches like CHUM, the CH students and school district, The Lion Foundation, New Hope, and the many other CH volunteers for helping us to get here. I especially need to thank my advisors--Lynette Perschi, Kris Kaleida, and Dana Little-- for all of their hard work to help me earn
my Gold Award last spring.
I have been a Girl Scout since I was in kindergarten, and for my Girl Scout Gold Award I chose to find space to create The Earl Besch Food Pantry. It really is an incredible feeling to be standing here in this pantry and see the project come full circle.
The path to this pantry began when Kris Kaleida started a Camp Hill School District Backpack Program for food insecure students sponsored by New Hope Ministries in 2014. The backpacks provided non-perishable food to students on weekends and holidays. The school district had approached the MS/HS PTO leads, Lynette Pertschi and Dana Little, during this time expressing the need for student and family assistance that went beyond food, leading to the establishment of the Earl Besch Project.
A memorial fund created by the Besch Family within the Lion Foundation was seen as the perfect fit to expand the good will legacy of Earl Besch in support of CH students. Backpacks eventually became pantry boxes, which were stored, packed, and distributed out of Lynette Pertschi’s garage.
I came into the picture in the fall of 2019, when I met with Mrs. Kaleida and Mrs. Pertschi at Cornerstone Coffeehouse and asked “where is there a need in our community that I can address?”. The creation of Pantry space was one of the first ideas they had, and by far the most impactful and important. Having an established pantry space would allow the program to serve more students, provide perishable food items and other goods, and allow students and volunteers to get more involved. Along with my advisors, Mrs. Kaleida and Mrs. Pertschi, I spent months communicating with school district administrators and school board members, local church leaders and business owners, and many others in our CH community trying to find space.
As the project was just getting off the ground in 2020, along came the COVID pandemic. All of a sudden the need for pantry space became even more urgent as the list of students and families needing help grew quickly, and the food box distribution became weekly out of the Pertschi garage. We were fortunate to receive temporary pantry space from the Camp Hill Little League who allowed me to set up shelving in their Fiala Building Concession Stand in the summer of 2020. During the height of the pandemic, I felt proud to be a part of serving over 50 Camp Hill families, and over 200 people with each food distribution. When we needed to vacate the concession stand, I received word from the Camp Hill United Methodist Church that we could use their chapel for The Earl Besch Food Pantry.
Thanks to the help of numerous volunteers, including many CH students, the pantry was moved into the space we are standing in today in March of 2021. The pantry was also transitioned at this time from a box program to a choice pantry program. Searching for a pantry site quickly evolved into the realization of the need for an
operational sponsor.
After much discussion, collaborating with New Hope Ministries became the obvious sponsorship solution to further expand the pantry services. The school district administration and school board members voted their support to make the pantry a school sponsored entity. This has created Life Skills learning opportunities
for district students and allowed other students like myself the chance to perform volunteer hours working in the pantry. Again, I have watched the growth of the pantry
come full circle.
After more than two years of planning, revising plans, moving to multiple locations and more than a few roadblocks, I am excited to be standing here today in the Earl Besch Food Pantry with all of you. It took the hard work of some very dedicated individuals and the coming together of many groups in our community who share a common vision to address food insecurity.
I would like to give thanks to the local churches like CHUM, the CH students and school district, The Lion Foundation, New Hope, and the many other CH volunteers for helping us to get here. I especially need to thank my advisors--Lynette Perschi, Kris Kaleida, and Dana Little-- for all of their hard work to help me earn
my Gold Award last spring.
Do you have gently used clothing you would like to donate to a good cause?
The Lion Foundation and the Camp Hill School District have entered into a partnership with CommunityAid and will be placing a collection bin in the Camp Hill High School/Middle School parking lot. Proceeds from the bin will benefit The Earl Besch Needy Student Fund. As part of the partnership:
- Any donated items placed in this collection bin will be credited to receive a $.04 per pound of clothing donation from CommunityAid to The Lion Foundation Earl Besch Needy Student Fund.
- Community Aid will also donate $300 in store clothing gift cards quarterly per school. We can then give $25 cards to spend in our local thrift stores discretely to our neediest students. This is an easy way to help families struggling to clothe their children.
- Finally, following 12 months of partnership, The Lion Foundation may apply for need-based grants from CommunityAid of up to $5,000 toward our mission.