Rep. Parke Wentling announced on Mar. 27 that the Mercer County Food Bank has been awarded a $40,000 grant to support its MilitaryShare program, which provides food distributions for veterans and military families in Mercer County.
The funding is intended to help more than 600 veterans in need throughout the community by enabling nine annual private food distributions at designated sites. “This funding will help the Mercer County Food Bank serve more than 600 of our veterans in need across our community,” Wentling said.
The grant is part of $804,973 distributed through the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Veterans’ Trust Fund (VTF). According to Wentling, these grants will support county directors of Veterans Affairs as well as nonprofits and service organizations across Pennsylvania as they address issues such as food insecurity, housing instability, transportation challenges, and behavioral health concerns among veterans.
Funding for the VTF comes from citizen donations made online or when Pennsylvanians apply for or renew their driver’s licenses, photo IDs, or vehicle registrations. The fund also receives proceeds from sales of special license plates honoring veterans and women veterans, along with private contributions. Every dollar donated goes directly toward grants that benefit veterans.
According to the official website, Wentling lives in Greenville with his wife Jennifer and their two children. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from California University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree emphasizing instructional technology from Clarion University of Pennsylvania according to his official biography. He spent 17 years working as an educator in the Wilmington Area School District according to his official website.
Wentling holds several leadership roles within legislative committees: he serves as Republican vice chairman of both the Game and Fisheries Committee and Subcommittee on Parks within the Environmental Resources and Protection Committee; he is also Republican chair of the Subcommittee on Townships within both Local Government Committee assignments according to his official biography.
The broader impact of this grant may be seen not only through direct assistance provided by programs like MilitaryShare but also through continued efforts by state officials like Wentling who hold multiple committee positions related to environmental resources, local government affairs, parks management, game regulations—and whose background includes nearly two decades in public education.
