The Whitehall-Coplay hunger initiative is hoping to make more faith organizations part of the team.

Shari Noctor, a local real estate agent who also runs the Communities That Care group trying to eradicate hunger in the area, said she hopes more of the 24 churches in Whitehall and Coplay will participate in the program.

If more than the six churches that are currently involved in the Whitehall Food Pantry join in collecting food, Noctor hopes to have each church specialize, collecting a particular food item.

"We haven't gotten that far yet," she said. "That's what I'm trying to work on for the month of July."

Six churches are currently involved in the pantry, including St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. John's United Church of Christ- Mickleys, St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fullerton, St. John's United Church of Christ on Grape Street and First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua. All of these churches are in Whitehall.

This article is part of a series chronicling the "disgusting" and "hidden" issue of hunger in Whitehall and Coplay. Two weeks ago, the first in the series took a look at Noctor's early attempt to spread awareness about hunger among the residents in Whitehall and Coplay.

Whitehall Township Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said at a hunger awareness event last month the idea for church specialization in food items collected is an "excellent idea" from the Easton Hunger Coalition, since this system has already been implemented in Easton.

"It's a little embarrassing that we have six churches participating when we have almost 30 churches in Whitehall," Hozza said.

The Rev. Michael Bodnyk, the pastor of Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, said he has been reaching out to other faith groups in Whitehall to have them join in the pantry. He said he sent emails to a Muslim mosque in addition to local Christian churches, but has gotten a generally "lukewarm" response.

"Communication will be one big thing, just to try to keep reaching out to these churches and getting them to respond," Bodynk said. "If I were to find out a church is already doing something, I wouldn't worry about it."

For example, he said he got a response from parishioners at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, which collects food on a monthly basis and sends it to the Allentown Area Ecumenical Food Bank.

Bodnyk said his church has been participating in the Whitehall Food Pantry for the more than 20 years he was there, illustrating hunger as an "ongoing issue" in Whitehall. He said over the years, he has had more people coming to him for food or gas money.

"The needs are higher. People give more," Bodnyk said. "It's not enough."

The CTC food initiative began after the 2013 PA Youth Survey showed 14.1 percent of the grades questioned in the Whitehall-Coplay School District worry about where their next meal is coming from, compared to 9.5 percent for the state.

Denise Continenza, extension educator for family and consumer sciences for the Penn State Extension, said people affected by hunger are less intimidated by churches than going to a public office or a school for help.

"With reductions in public funds for programs and initiatives, the faith community is playing a larger role," she said. "I think they have a much greater chance of connecting with people."

Continenza explained that the local churches take care of their own members and don't embrace hunger as something they will address. She said the CTC food committee wants to have more churches address the issue in the entire community, not just have each church take care of its own members.

The food committee also hopes to establish community dinners in churches throughout Whitehall, which Continenza said would both feed people and foster a greater sense of community, a goal for CTC.

"It's this whole issue with the community, taking care of people that don't come to my place of worship," she said.

In two weeks, the next part of the Fighting Hunger series will focus on civic engagement for the food program, including the group's fundraising efforts aimed at businesses in the community and programs that will result from the new funding.