Beth Ann Rosica: ChesCo bureaucrats end hot meals for needy West Chester families

Beth Ann Rosica Beth Ann Rosica

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” 

Martin Luther King, Jr. posed that question to an audience in Montgomery, Alabama in 1957 — 68 years ago — and today, it still holds important meaning to many volunteers in our own communities.

Dr. King, if still alive, would likely be surprised and dismayed to learn about a local government agency preventing volunteers from serving their community.

Today in West Chester, the Chester County Health Department (CCHD) is doing exactly that.

The Dorothy Day Center, part of St. Agnes Catholic Church, has been serving the local community for 32 years. Founded by Barbara Kirby, the programs have grown organically and naturally over the years to serve the unmet basic needs for hundreds of thousands of local residents.

The center welcomes low-income families and individuals, many of whom are Hispanic and/or elderly. Services include educational support, a medical clinic, a healthy baby program, tutoring, summer camp, and an array of other programs.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the “Day room,” as it is affectionately known by the community, are the daily hot meals provided. Every weekday, those in need can enjoy a light breakfast and a healthy, hot lunch, lovingly prepared by local residents.

That is until August 2024, when CCHD abruptly ended the program, citing regulatory violations. Before then, the hot meals, prepared in private homes, had been served continuously for 31 years, even during Covid. According to Kirby, who still directs the program, over a million meals have been served since its inception. In 2022, they served 12,578 breakfasts and 37,163 lunches.

For 31 years and over a million meals served, not a single recipient has experienced an adverse effect as a result of improper food handling, as reported by Kirby in an interview.

Despite the lack of problems and the significant positive impact of the program, in August, CCHD shut down the way the program has operated since its founding. For many people, this was the only hot meal they ate every day.

CCHD is claiming that the food cannot be prepared in private homes since they are serving the meals to the public.

The hot meal program is quite a large operation, according to Kirby. They have 150 volunteer cooks who are trained in food safety precautions, including checking the temperature of meals, wearing a hairnet at home while cooking, and sanitizing surfaces where food is prepared. Kirby is also a certified “Food Manager” by the county.

The volunteer cooks sign up to provide healthy meals that include a hot entree, healthy side, and dessert. They prepare the meals at their home and transport them to the Day room at lunch time. The staff at the center take the temperature of the meals to ensure proper preparation.

Following an inspection in August, the highly organized hot meal program was halted by CCHD, despite the fact that CCHD has regularly inspected the center over the years. Kirby said, “something has changed and we don’t know what it is. The whole situation is shocking.”

Documents posted on CCHD’s website verify Kirby’s assertion. The inspection from 2023 indicates the center is in compliance, while the 2024 inspection shows out of compliance. Yet nothing changed from one year to the next.

“Jeanne Franklin, the Health Director, told us we should never have been allowed to serve the meals prepared in private homes,” said Kirby.

As the center and the attorney for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia attempt to find a solution that will satisfy CCHD, they are currently serving mostly cold meals for lunch. Kirby said, “people are buying food like lunch meat and bread and sometimes pizza to keep the meals going. Some of the local establishments with licensed kitchens have stepped up to donate hot meals, but more often than not, the center is serving less healthy meals than previously.”

“In a November meeting with CCHD, Jeanne Franklin told us she was not concerned about the nutritional value of the meals, rather, she was only concerned about the health risks,” said Kirby.

Those sentiments were confirmed in a request for comment from the county. “Also, while the Health Department is always interested in the nutritional value of foods and meals offered, nutritional value is not a focus of the Department’s inspections.”

The full response from the county can be found here.

Volunteers preparing to serve a cold lunch

Participants in the lunch program are not only receiving less nutritional and largely cold lunches, but now, the center runs out of food far more frequently than under the previous hot lunch program. 

“We offer lunch from noon to 2pm every weekday, and people used to stagger in. Now, there is a line at noon because sometimes we run out of food, and people are worried there won’t be anything left,” said Kirby.

The county cited both a federal and state law to justify their position that the meals could not be prepared in private homes and then served at the center.

The FDA Food Code, Chapter 3, Part 3-201.11(B), states, “food prepared in a private home may not be used or offered for human consumption in a food establishment.” [emphasis added]

Pennsylvania Food Code, 7 Pa Code §46.212(a), similarly states, “food prepared in a private home may not be used or offered for human consumption in a retail food facility unless the private home meets the requirements of subsection (b) or (c).” [emphasis added]

The Day room is not a food establishment or a retail food facility. Kirby describes it as “the home of the priests who open their doors to those in need.” 

Equally as concerning as the loss of healthy, hot meals for people struggling is the impact on those volunteers preparing and delivering the meals.

Marie Holland serves as Kirby’s co-director at the center and said, “the volunteer cooks are devastated over the change in the program. This is their ministry and the way they give back to their community. CCHD has taken that away.”

Founder and Director, Barbara Kirby (left) and Co-Director Marie Holland (right)

Alissa McGrory, a St. Agnes parishioner and volunteer cook for fifteen years, is outraged.

“Everyone on my cooking team loved being a part of this ministry and making nutritious meals for those in need. Prior to the CCHD restrictions, we had been preparing a full meal the last Tuesday of every month, and now we are sending money for pizzas and we do not feel good about it. It is not healthy, and we are still waiting for a reason from CCHD as to why they all of sudden enforced this overburdensome rule. They are hurting mostly the people who are the recipients of the meals but also those who enjoyed serving as a part of this ministry by making homemade meals with love.”

Kirby summed up the situation. “The Bible says, ‘share your food with the hungry.’ It doesn’t say, ‘buy them a cheesesteak.'”

As a Chester County resident, I, too, am furious and shocked at the position of CCHD. Would we rather poor people risk dying of hunger or suffer from malnutrition than take a minuscule risk of serving food carefully and caringly prepared by committed volunteers?

CCHD could easily view the day room as the priest’s private home — and maybe they did prior to last August. 

This is a quintessential example of government overreach and interference.

This program has worked beautifully for 31 years. There is absolutely no reason to change it or impose onerous restrictions on a group of people who are dedicating their lives to helping those less fortunate.

Ronald Reagan’s words epitomize this tragic situation. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

Chester County and the commissioners should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen and should rectify this situation immediately. How much longer will the county allow Director Franklin to continue in her role wreaking havoc on our citizens?

Franklin was single-handedly responsible for keeping public schools in the county closed far longer than necessary with her overburdensome “recommendations” around distancing and quarantine which have since been found ineffective and not based on scientific evidence. She forced our children to be forcibly masked when, once again, the evidence did not support it. And now, she is denying people in need hot, healthy meals and denying volunteers the opportunity to serve.

And Franklin’s poor decisions come at the cost of the hard-working residents of Chester County. 

It is time to restore common sense to our government and allow St. Agnes and their volunteers to minister to our most vulnerable community members. Kirby believes CCHD is treading on the community’s “religious liberty,” and that certainly appears to be true.

Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at barosica@broadandliberty.com.

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17 thoughts on “Beth Ann Rosica: ChesCo bureaucrats end hot meals for needy West Chester families”

  1. We are frequently told the foul actions that sadly litter history are done for a “greater good”, such as getting the trains to run on time.

    The Health Departments actions are done to assure the food provided at St Agnes is “safe” and the risk of food-borne illness significantly reduced.

    Is this the same Health Department that assessed “the reliability of Advaite’s test”? Remember in April of 2020, Chester County made headlines by buying $20 million of antibody tests that produced results that weren’t “necessarily accurate.” Then, according to the September 11, 2020 Inquirer article by McCullough and Bender some officials in Chester County decided not to notify 6,000 people of the uncertainty of their test results. Reportedly the officials
    “expressed a worry it would undermine the health department and the county in terms of believing anything we said or did.” I think trying to cover it up tells us all we need to know of those involved.

    So much for the science of bureaucrats. So much for their humanity and common sense.

    There is an axiom in medicine, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. In 32 years of operation how many ford-borne outbreaks have traced to the Dorthy Day Center at St Agnes?

    1. “We are frequently told the foul actions that sadly litter history are done for a “greater good”, such as getting the trains to run on time.” – Really? A more appropriate statement is, “Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it; those who fail to learn history correctly– why they are simply doomed.”

  2. ” We will continue to meet with St. Agnes and anticipate the opportunity to review proposed alternatives for meal service that could work so that they can continue to serve those who receive meals at the Day Room.” – You forgot to mention this in your article.

    “Franklin was single-handedly responsible for keeping public schools in the county closed far longer than necessary with her overburdensome “recommendations” around distancing and quarantine which have since been found ineffective and not based on scientific evidence. She forced our children to be forcibly masked when, once again, the evidence did not support it. ” Get over it. This decision has nothing to do with Covid.

    The Health Department turned a blind eye to a legal violation that has been going on for 31 years. What solutions do you have to offer or are you waiting for a pardon from Trump?

    P.S. – You forgot to black out one of the e-mail addresses in your public post. Was this deliberate and will be held accountable when people start harassing them?

    1. The document in question was publicly available and the email address in question belonged to a person who no longer works for the county. Nonetheless, we have now redacted it.

    2. It’s overreach, common sense dictates it, 31 years and zero problems. Much the reason why her zealot like recommendations during Wuhan were mentioned, demonstration of her applying incredible overreach, ignoring of facts and history. And telling by your response in defense of her, dragging Trump pardon (ironically not Bidens) into the fray, it now convinced the few what the many of us already know…that it was political in nature, even though the Day Room is apolitical. Tell us you’re a modern-day Democratic appointee/elected official w/out telling us.

    3. Hahaha. The presumption that the County Health Department has any jurisdiction over a religious facility and their prayer service, or has the authority to say what is a legal violation during that prayer service which is open to the parishioners and general public seems suspect… at best. Do they inspect all religious facilities that serve food? Do all the religious facilities in Chester County need liquor licenses if they have wine at their services? Why not? Is that decision based on the whim of a government employee? What were you saying about history… Get over it? The churches that were closed during Covid were lead by mostly cowards that just wanted to be nice and for everyone to get along. Except what they actually did was subject themselves and cede unnecessarily to the government. It may be a tad over your head, being history and all, but here is another example: Marriage.
      The U.S. Government likes to think they grant a license for marriages. And now they do. But only ten score years ago marriage was between two people and their church and God. While marriage has been a social and religious institution for centuries, the formalization of marriage through U.S. government-issued licenses only became common in the mid-1800s. (And those people would’ve laughed the CCHD out of their place of worship! Or possibly tarred and feathered them.) The first state to require a marriage license was Massachusetts in 1639 (before the United States existed), but it wasn’t until the 19th century (mid-1800s) that the practice became widespread across the country. By the late 1800s, most states had established laws requiring couples to obtain a marriage license before getting married. This shift was motivated by the desire to regulate marriages (and grow their control), and maintain records for various social and legal purposes. “They did it for the better good…” Nope. They did it because they always want more power.

  3. Over and over again one sees this type of BS justifying decisions that are antithetical to the well-being of people supposedly targeted for “government help.” The evident success of the program and its duration is, to me, the prime reason it was targeted to be eliminated by a government entity that could not stand to see a program run by ordinary folks and is an outstanding win for the community. Oh my, the example may be catching and more programs like this developed, then where would bureaucrats be? Right now, I will throw out a solution for consideration: (1) amend the county code allowing such activity, (2) Given the dismal track record of the health department and its leadership, it seems to me to be worthless and should not be a drain on taxpayer dollars; abolish the department. I will opine that the decision to stall this program has everything to do with COVID decision-making. Rather than there being any consequences for the disastrous results of very bad COVID decision-making, there were none, embolding the health department to target this program, this implies the health department true agenda is not public health, but rather control. Claiming “health risks” as a prime directive is a specious excuse, it could include everything no matter the smallness of the risk. When was the last smallpox epidemic in Chester County?

    1. “When was the last smallpox epidemic in Chester County?”- The last known case of Smallpox in Pennsylvania was in 1949 and the last naturally occurring case of Smallpox in the world was in 1977. A vaccine was created in 1796 and was vaccinated out of existence by a global campaign organized by the World Health Organization starting in 1959. The last naturally occurring case was in 1978.
      https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/about/history.html

      Smallpox is not spread through improperly prepared food. So you can thank the science and medical community for eradicating this life-threatening disease.

  4. Why was an inspection allowed to take place? And why does CCHD think they have any authority or jurisdiction over this specific space? If the place is indeed “the home of the priests who open their doors to those in need” then simply have an open invitation (scheduled program) available to your parishioners and welcome guests for a church potluck each morning and afternoon. Say a prayer at the beginning of each potluck gathering and call it a prayer service even. Seems very straightforward. Stop asking the government for permission to retain your religious rights. Does the CCHD visit every church space in Chester County and say what food is allowed to be available? Are bake sales now illegal throughout all of Chester County? It is laughable. People are not mad enough and want to be told what to do by the authorities, still. Very sad state of affairs indeed. Next time they try and enter your property why not tell them they are not welcome?

  5. Has anyone ever had food poisoning? I did back in 1978 from human fecal contaminated potato salad from a buffet in Lancaster County. The CCHD quarantined our home with a big orange sign on our front door and our whole family had to submit stool samples. Even our toilets were quarantined. I had to use the toilet in our unfinished basement where the Brown Recluses hid. My mother opined, “Now every one is going to think we’re dirty.” She always made sure I wore clean underwear just in case I was killed in a car accident.

    It’s amazing how much history can be learned from a stool sample. The CCHD was able to pinpoint the exact time I ate sh—t and what food was contaminated. We weren’t a litigious society in 1978. We didn’t sue the restaurant which years later was torn down after someone complained that dogs were licking blocks of ice in a galvanized tub in the kitchen.

    I spent five days in the hospital. I lost twenty-seven pounds. Luckily I was a healthy and robust twenty-three year old from Coatesville. I didn’t take sh—t off anybody unless it was in potato salad. Teresa Madiro, the future wife of the Mayor of Downingtown, who was in a graduate class with me at West Chester, saw me in Francis Harvey Green Library after I returned and attributed my lean and mean look to a vacation in the islands. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I had discovered an unconventional weight loss program.

    Ever go into a grocery store or restaurant bathroom and see someone leave a stall without washing their hands? People who lack a scientific worldview, that is, people who don’t believe in germs because they can’t see them; people who burn tires and plastics in burn pits; people who dispose of herbicides and fertilizers in streams; people who use sewage sludge on their fields as fertilizer; don’t see the consequences of contamination. If they can’t see those consequences then they don’t believe there are any.

    These folks aren’t necessarily less educated than the rest of us or even less intelligent but they can be Hofferesque true believers either in Mother Nature or in Jesus as a cure all. They have either the Bible or Back to Eden on their bedstand. They might see illness as a consequence of original sin and celebrate suffering as a kind of repentance. That’s why those paganistic hippie communes were cursed with a proliferation of STDs. There was much too much tree hugging going on. If you don’t like to suffer for Jesus, it’s better to have a Jewish physician rather than a hard core Christian one. A Jewish physician is more likely to prescribe antibiotics for your strep, earache, or pink eye. The Christian physician will say, “Let it run its course,” which is a euphemism for “Let Jesus handle it.” These Mother Nature lovers or Jesus Freaks aren’t as hygienic as most of us and being less hygienic don’t wash their hair everyday and sometimes can be mistaken for French.

    Which brings us back to the issue at hand. Who is going to guarantee that grandmother is going to wash her hands after she poops before mixing the potato salad? I would much rather be poor and hungry than poor and sick.

  6. B&L doesn’t want you to know this so they’ll never write about it but congressional Republicans are STILL trying to cut free meals for kids like they’ve already done in many states they control and President Musk’s plan (with First Lady Trump’s signature) would have frozen all funding for meals on wheels nationwide. Fortunately, like so many other recent orders, that one was so obviously illegal (and anti-constitutional) it was blocked in courts. But sure, let’s lose our minds over this.

  7. Chester County restaurant inspections, Feb. 9, 2025 (LNP): St. Agnes Elementary School, 211 W. Gay St. West Chester, January 29. Fail. Please obtain a food probe thermometer for taking temperatures of food items. Please obtain a thermometer for inside of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration. During the inspection test strips were brought over. Ensure that test strips are in the kitchen at all times. Loose rubber door gaskets observed on the true cooling unit in the kitchen. Please repair or replace the door gasket. EHS Sup did not observe any sanitizer near the three-compartment sink. The person who is in charge of the kitchen was off today. Please ensure the facility has a proper food contact sanitizer to use. During the inspection, Quat tablets were brought over to the kitchen. Ensure that sanitizer is easily accessible to staff in the kitchen at all times. Soap was not available at the handwash sink in the kitchen area. Soap was brought over during the inspection. Please install a hand soap dispenser at the hand sink. Observed one bottle of cleaner not labeled with the common name of the chemical. Employee wrote the name of the chemical on the bottle on site. Please ensure all chemicals are properly labeled with the common name. The food facility does not maintain Certified Food Manager records as required. Sister stated that the person who is in charge of the kitchen is currently taking a class. Please apply for the Chester County Certified Food manager certificate once completed.

    St. Agnes Parish Center, 233 W. Gay St. West Chester, January 29. Fail. Please obtain a food probe thermometer to take food temperatures. Please obtain a thermometer to place into the refrigerator. Food facility does not have available sanitizer test strips or test kit to determine appropriate sanitizer concentration. Please obtain Quat test strips to keep at the three-compartment sink. Paper towel dispenser empty at the handwash sink in the kitchen area. Employee explained they do not have the c-folds that can fit into the paper towel dispenser. Please obtain c-folds or install a different paper towel dispenser at the hand sink. Facility had a roof leak. One ceiling tile was observed to be missing, and the light shield was missing for one of the light fixtures. Lane stated that they are working to repair the ceiling tile. Please place a new ceiling tile and place the light bulb shield over the light. Old unused equipment stored in kitchen area, should be removed from food facility. Please remove any equipment that is broken or is not being used. The food facility does not maintain Certified Food Manager records as required.

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