For over 30 years, the FPCY Food Pantry has been serving the less fortunate of our community. And as with many things, it started small. As a matter of fact, it was a closet. The Deacons had been reactivated in 1984 and one of their first initiatives was to open a Food Closet in 1985. We became an officially recognized Food Pantry Agency with the Food Bank for Westchester in 1992. To maintain agency status we must comply with sanitation, food safety, quality of food bags (i.e. balanced, nutritious food), and record keeping on clients and number of meals provided. In more recent years we have been able to expand our offerings with fresh produce and fruits (Green Thumb Program), breads from Panera and JV Bagels, and quality meat products e.g. whole chickens.
To our great good fortune we were awarded a donation in 2008 from The Frase-Stockwell Fund leading to the creation of the FPCY FOOD PANTRY TRUST with a Matching Grant of $100,000. Our yearly draw down is about $10,000 a year which goes to matching congregation and community donations.
The Food Pantry is open from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month with the exception of November and December when the schedule is modified to address the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
What our food pantry does:
- Number of clients: 150 families, 500 individuals per pantry
- Food Supplied: average 5000 lbs per pantry
- Volunteers average 15-25 per pantry
Our Food Pantry provides a significant measure of critical relief to those who are food insecure. Some interesting statistics:
- most of our clients only come 3 or 4 times to fill short term needs
- we serve a significant number of elderly people and veterans in our client population
- Our pantry is open to all, unrestricted by geography, consistent with our outreach mission to the community.
Every financial gift to the Food Pantry is doubled by our matching grant.
Gifts to the Food Pantry may be made online, or by placing gifts in the offering plate marked “Food Pantry,” or by mailing checks marked “Food Pantry” to the church office.
Our Deacons are also sensitive to
the needs of our Food Pantry clients beyond food. Diapers for babies and toddlers and those September supplies for school age children can test a family’s limited budget, so the Deacons help to meet these needs out of a separate budget from the Food Pantry. Please consider online gifts to the general Deacons’ Fund for their many missions (you can add a note online for which mission you would like to support) or specifically for diapers so that we can meet our clients’ needs beyond food. You can also mail a check to the church office marked with a note about which mission you would like to support (Food Pantry, school supplies, diapers).
If you’d like to see other ways we reach out in our community, check out our Volunteer and Support page.