We continued to operate in a pre-packed, masked, socially distanced, drive-by distribution model for 2022, as the challenges of managing high client volume, uncertain supply chains and public health concerns continued. We hope to return to indoor full-choice operations sometime in 2023. Our clients appreciate our personal touches: choice of unusual items at the front desk; stocks of specialty items for those needing vegan or gluten-free, etc, choices; birthday greetings; and our wearing of name tags so that they can call us by name. We are immensely grateful for the core team of volunteers who have packed bags on Fridays, and particularly those who have stood outside in all sorts of weather for the pantry throughout 2022 (and in many cases since 2020!). We have resumed welcoming new volunteers and are grateful for the enthusiastic response from our congregation.
We continue to have unbelievable support from the congregation, the community at large, and local businesses, houses of worship, schools and civic groups in terms of both financial and food drive contributions. A partial list includes Wilkens’ Farm, Meadows Farm, the Garden of Hope, the Yorktown Federation of Teachers, the monthly food drives of the Knights of Columbus at St Patrick’s, Yorktown for Justice, Uncle Guiseppe’s, the Elks Club, local politicians, many school and sporting groups, and local families who created their own food drives or charity sales initiatives on our behalf. The ongoing support of our “Item of the Month ” has enabled us to offer canned fruit, canned protein, pasta, cake mix and breakfast cereal to our clients (not to mention Turkeys!) when our other sources ran dry. We are also grateful to Sue Nelson for taking on the diaper purchasing this year, and to the Fang family (Louise, Marina and Janice) and the Bentley family for making the deliveries to our elderly neighbors at Beaver Ridge.
The uptick in inflation is hitting our clients. For the full year, we served 18,485 individuals from 4,589 families with 145,000 pounds of food; for comparison, the 2021 volume was 16,000 individuals, 3,900 families and 125,000 pounds of food. We also distributed nearly 1000 bundles of diapers, eldercare supplies for nearly 1200 people and 250 school supplies.
2023 will bring its own challenges, and we will continue to rely on the congregation’s support in prayer, financial support, food donations, and volunteer efforts. We are so very grateful to be able to help our hungry neighbors with your support.
We are very grateful for Item of the Month food donations to fill gaps in our ability to offer balanced food choices to our clients. You can drop off items any time in the labeled bins near the red double doors at the back of the church building. You can also easily give electronically, and use the “Food Pantry Plus” line, or you can write “Food Pantry” on the memo line of your check and mail it to the church office or place it in the offering plate. If you would like to make a food donation, Please Note:
- Non-Perishable FOOD Only
- NO Food with expired dates on the packages.
- Donate the quality of food you would serve to your own family.