Move over spiedies, here comes the pierogy.

Binghamton, N.Y., is home to the spiedie, marinated meat on Italian bread, brought by Italian immigrants to the region. But on Wednesday, Mrs. T’s ‘ a Pennsylvania-based company that makes pierogies and distributes them nationwide ‘ crowned Binghamton the Capital of the Pierogy Pocket of America.

The company also awarded $10,000 to St. Michael’s Greek Catholic Church on Clinton Street. The church, which entered the the second annual contest on behalf of the city, will donate the money to Broome County’s Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse.

‘This was a great spirit of civic pride competition,’ Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan said. ‘But I think what geared people a lot was that $10,000 was going to our food pantry, CHOW.’

CHOW, which annually distributes two million pounds of food to district pantries, will use the money to keep its trucks on the road, maintain its warehouses and cover other overhead costs, according to CHOW director Ed Blaine.

‘We may not be the most financially successful area anymore,’ said Blaine, who was thankful for the donation, ‘but we’re in an area where people care for one another.’

Blaine said he’s proud to be in the pierogy capital. But more than that, he said he’s ‘proud to be part of this community because it’s really gratifying to tell people there’s a need and have so many, so many people respond so often over and over again.’

Sixty-two thousand votes were cast between Oct. 3 and 23 for the five finalists in the ‘Pierogy Pocket,’ an area in the Northeast and parts of the Midwest where pierogy consumption is highest.

In addition to Binghamton, the other cities included were Clifton, N.J.; Lancaster, N.Y.; Whiting, Ind. and current title-owner Buffalo, N.Y. The contestants’ ‘pierogy pride’ was determined by a combination of persuasiveness, originality and creativity, as well as how the city will benefit from being capital, overall impression and number of votes.

The Rev. Stephen Dutko of St. Michael’s spearheaded the city’s efforts in the competition.

Since 1964, Dutko, 90, has led the church in selling pierogies on Fridays during the spring Lenten season. The church submitted a nomination petition with 1,000 signatures, a mayoral proclamation, photographs, archived video clips, and news articles about the church’s pierogies and other documents. Mayor Matt Ryan recognized Dutko, pastor emeritus of the church, as ‘Pirohi King’ in September.

Dutko said he was already answering the church’s phone as ‘the pierogy capital’ before the competition, but is happy it’s now official.

And although Dutko uses a cane, is ‘a little slower’ and rides a motorized scooter during the church’s pierogy sales, he’s ‘not giving up,’ he said. ‘And I know that the people of St. Michael’s are not giving up because we do pierogy out of a labor of love.’

Pierogies are crescent-shaped dough dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes, cabbage, onion, meat, sauerkraut, cheese or any combination thereof. The pockets, which are of Eastern European origin, were first a family food among immigrants in the United States. But as immigrants spread out across the region, so did pierogy consumption.

Tom Twardzik, Mrs. T’s president and son of the founder, said he liked Binghamton’s entry because of its similarity to the origin of his company. His grandmother ‘ or ‘baba,’ the Slavonic translation, according Dutko ‘ had also made pierogies to help raise church funds.

But as Binghamton’s contest materials were sent in, Twardzik said he wanted to taste-test more than just Binghamton’s pierogies.

‘I want to try some spiedies,’ he said.