Chester County Food Kitchen Closing After 43 Years
COATESVILLE, Pa. (CBS) -- For decades, Doris Spann spent many holidays making sure others were fed, even before herself.
On Wednesday, after 43 years, the food cupboard she founded in Chester County will close its doors for good.
Spann's mission at the Coatesville Emergency Food Cupboard started small.
"We had four families our first Christmas," she said.
Over the years, that number grew to 600. And at its busiest, the cupboard fed hundreds of families a week.
"I've had people come up and kiss me," she recalls.
But with food and financial support down, and bills piling up, Spann's family says it was forced to make the tough decision.
"They were sad, and I was sad," Jim Robinson said.
Robinson has taken over operations at the cupboard for his mother in recent years. He says the family now wants to solely focus on taking care of Spann after her lifetime of taking care of others.
"It was a good run, but like everything else, it's time to move on," Robinson said.
"From one to 10, I give it a 10," Span said. "That's how successful we were, we took that cupboard right to the top."
