Penn-Trafford alumnus Andrea Lonzo-Porter was raised to understand the importance of helping others.

“I come from a very, very large family,” she said. “We’ve always helped each other any way we could, whether it was time, money, just showing up. It taught me the importance of taking care of other people.”

Lonzo-Porter aims to spread that spirit of giving through a nonprofit she founded in May, PT Giveback — which will support students at Lonzo-Porter’s alma mater.

“My husband and I thought, ‘Why not take this family model and make it more communal and see what we could come up with?’” the Penn Township resident said. “That’s how PT Giveback was born. It was to extend the same sense of spirit and caring and generosity that we were raised (to give).”

Nonprofit will support high school’s ‘Caring Closet’

PT Giveback is accepting donations from the community to fill student needs that might otherwise go unmet, she said. For example, the nonprofit’s funds could be used to help a student attend a school dance, play a sport or join a club.

“Those activities, they shape you,” she said. “They help you prepare for life, and they give you opportunities and experiences.”

The nonprofit also will help stock the high school’s Caring Closet — a supply of clothes, shoes, formal wear and hygiene products available to students in need, free of charge.

The closet was started several years ago as part of a student’s senior project. Family and consumer sciences teacher Alison Siniawski has since managed the closet for students.

The Caring Closet is typically used by students twice a week, Siniawski said. It helped dress 10 students for the homecoming dance this year and three students for graduation in 2024-25.

Winter clothing is a regular need for students, Siniawski said.

“Winter coats, hoodies, warm wear is a big one. I don’t have many kids coming down asking for shorts and t-shirts,” she said, “but when it gets cold like this is when I get the most need.”

But there have been times where the Caring Closet does not have what a student is looking for, she said.

“At the beginning of the school year, we had a child in need of a size 13 athletic shoe, and I didn’t have that in the Caring Closet,” she said. “We were unable to get the shoes for that kid. Nobody really was stepping up to the plate.”

That, Siniawski said, is where PT Giveback will come in hand. Using donations from Lonzo-Porter’s nonprofit, Siniawski bought the shoes the student needed.

PT Giveback also will allow students to ask for specific types of clothes, rather than being restricted to whatever the Caring Closet has in stock.

“Having clothes that you feel good, comfortable and confident in, I think that plays a role in their entire school day,” Siniawski said. “I think that plays a role in their mental health, in how they’re going to perform in class.

“If they’re focusing on ‘My pants don’t fit’ or ‘This is itchy fabric,’ that’s disturbing and it’s going to absolutely interfere with their day.”

‘There’s this sense of belonging here’

All support, whether material or financial, will be given to students and families discretely, Lonzo-Porter said.

She is inviting local students to join her twin sons, Bryce and Brady, in serving on the nonprofit’s junior board.

The junior board’s mission is simple, Lonzo-Porter said — “Do better. Be better.”

The board will facilitate donations to local students and families and perform random acts of kindness in the community, she said.

“My husband and I have been trying to help and donate for years to different causes. There’s lots of them and they’re all valid and wonderful,” she said. “But sometimes, I think to myself, ‘Why am I donating to this cause across the globe … when I know there’s people right in my neighborhood who are really struggling?’”

After 20 years working in the district, Siniawski is well-acquainted with the level of student need at Penn-Trafford.

“I always feel like there’s this sense of belonging here,” she said. “We have a fabulous administration that will step out of their way to make sure stuff like this happens.”

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