SALINEVILLE, Ohio – As a young man, Scott Hart tried to get as far away as possible from Salineville, the southwest Columbiana County village where he grew up.

But after serving in the U.S. Navy, Hart returned home to start a family – and to make a difference. He got involved with the Southern Community Center Food Pantry, became its president and increased its reach to serve more people.

Under Hart’s leadership, the Southern Community Center Food Pantry regularly serves up to 200 families. When he became president six years ago, the pantry served 14. Hart also recruited a team of volunteers to help. 

“I don’t know necessarily that’s a good thing to have 200 [families], but at least we’re able to address some food insecurities in the Southern Local School District,” Hart says.

He graduated from Southern Local in 1989, joined the Navy and went to radioman training and boot camp in San Diego that fall.  He was deployed to Japan and then Desert Shield, Desert Storm and the Persian Gulf War. 

He earned citations, met his wife and decided to leave the Navy and return home to start a family.

Hart worked at Summitville Tile and then joined the Navy Reserve where he recruited people to the military from Youngstown, Akron, Boardman, East Liverpool, Calcutta and Steubenville. He retired in 2016.

Hart was enjoying retirement and grandchildren, when then-Mayor Linda Adams asked him to consider getting involved with the community’s struggling food pantry.

“He’s really well respected,” Adams says. “People respond well to him and he’s a good leader.”

In 2019, Hart organized a Thanksgiving dinner giveaway, Adams recalls. Volunteers distributed food from portable tables set up behind the former village jail. 

The pantry has come a long way since then.

Through grants from Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and donations from a local family and the village, the Southern Food Pantry added cold storage and walk-in freezers and expanded its operation. It relocated to a larger building connected to the village firehall where food can be stored.

Hart accomplished more than Adams expected.

“My idea of a food bank was you go pick up a load of groceries [at Second Harvest], you bring them back, pass them out and you’re done until next time,” the former mayor says. “I didn’t know he was going to start a grocery warehouse. … I think he was reluctant to begin with and then he got into it. He really has a heart for it.”

About 173 families walked through the doors this past September and with the holidays coming, Hart anticipates an uptick as holiday stress compounds the challenges for those struggling to keep food on the table.

The pantry is gearing up for Thanksgiving, aiming to distribute 200 turkeys. 

Students, local parishioners and community members volunteer at the pantry, which Hart says averages 15 to 30 volunteers for each monthly giveaway the third Saturday of every month.

When there is an abundance of food at Second Harvest or a supply of perishable items, Hart says they will have smaller distributions.

With the high price of food, even for food pantries, Hart says he is involved in fundraising efforts year-round and is preparing to add Venmo to provide another way for people to donate. There are people from the community and the churches who send a check every month.

American Legion

But the food pantry is not the only place Hart has been making a difference in Salineville. For the past three years he has been serving as commander of the local American Legion John Adams Post 442. The post is named for a World War I soldier killed in action in France and buried in Salineville’s Woodland Cemetery.

Volunteerism is a trait among many veterans. According to the 2025 Veterans Civic Health Index, compiled by the advocacy group We the Veterans and Military Families, 27% of veterans volunteer, compared to 28% of civilians. However, veterans volunteering locally averaged 93 hours of charitable work compared to only 69 hours for nonveterans.

Hart credits others at the American Legion who work together to help the community.

Both the ladies’ auxiliary and the veterans provide scholarships for local students, promote Americanism and volunteerism in the community and donate to other organizations doing good work like the police, fire and street departments. They sponsor Halloween and a Santa Claus visit at the Light Up Night parade and participate in the annual Memorial Day activities in the village as well. The Legion displays banners printed by Country Girl Apparel for 40 local veterans. 

“And if there’s a veteran family that is in need, we’ll do that too,” Hart says, adding members of the Salineville post volunteer over 1,000 hours annually to the community.

Post 442 advocates for veterans nationally and supports the efforts of the local food pantry as well. And Hart points out military service isn’t a requirement to join. People whose parent or grandparent served may also join the post. 

“I tell everybody, I’m passionate about getting the food to the right people,” Hart says. “I’m a veteran, so I’m passionate about taking care of veterans.”

Helping Children

But helping children get what they need is important to him too.

Homeless at 16, Hart says knows there are too many children living in households struggling to make ends meet and to survive. Jobs are scarce in Salineville and parents often must travel to work, creating childcare challenges. 

“I didn’t have the greatest childhood,” Hart says. “When I was going to school, I couldn’t have cared less about school. I was just worried about where my next meal [would come from] or where I was going to sleep.”

So Hart became a school board member in January 2021. He says he works to take an apolitical approach, so he can learn and make informed decisions about what is best for the students and the teachers who look out for kids.

That involves “working through the superintendent and treasurer and just empowering these teachers to be good teachers,” Hart says, “giving them the tools they need to function every day and teach these kids.”

Hart admits he had to grow up to realize that Salineville is a great community. 

“I came back and said this is where I want to raise my family,” Hart says. “This is where I want to be. … But how can I make my community better? Lead by example and hopefully somebody will pick up on it and see what they can do too.”

Pictured at top: Scott Hart, president of the Southern Community Center Food Pantry in Salineville.