Feeding Westchester Archives - Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk: The Magazines for New and North Castle

& Launches Mobile Food Pantry in Partnership with Pace University This Fall

It’s been a busy fall for Elmsford-based nonprofit Feeding Westchester (formerly known as the Food Bank for Westchester). The non-profit just celebrated 30 years with their fundraiser “An Evening in Good Taste” this past October. The event featured cocktails and cuisine from more than 30 Westchester-based chefs including local favorite Beau Widener, the Executive Chef at Crabtree’s Kittle House Restaurant & Inn.

Beau Widener Executive Chef at Crabtree Kittle House Restaurant and Inn and staff delight fundraiser attendees with their delicacies at “An Evening In Good Taste” Photo by Stacey Pfeffer

This fall also saw the introduction of a new Mobile Food Pantry in partnership with Pace University. Pace President Marvin Krislov attended the first mobile food pantry event on September 27 and spoke with student volunteers who participated by passing out produce to students and local residents.

Noelani Rivera, a first-year student at Pace said, “It was a really great experience to be able to help others, especially people so closely tied to our community.”

Tyler Kalahar, program coordinator at Pace’s Center for Community Action and Research in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, said the new mobile food pantry was in keeping with Pace University ‘s position as a leader in economic mobility in higher education. “Addressing hunger with the mobile food pantry program is simply another way to give students, particularly our first generation and students from low-income families, the resources they need to succeed in college,” Kalaher explained.

The mobile pantry visited the Pace campus on Halloween and November 27th. The next visit is scheduled for December 13th from 12:30-2:30 p.m. The program hopes to provide nourishing, stigma-free food in a location that is accessible to both students and the wider Westchester community.

The mobile food pantry is located at Pace University, 861 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, entrance 3, North Hall parking lot.

(L-R): Cornell Craig (Assistant Dean and Director, Multicultural Affairs and Diversity Programs at Pace), Zikomo Barr (Coordinator, Leadership Programs at Pace), Olivia Wint (Pace student volunteer), Natalie Holguin (Pace student volunteer), Marvin Krislov (Pace President), Tyler Kalahar (Program Coordinator, Center for Community Action and Research at Pace), Nicole Dobson (Feeding Westchester), Noelani Rivera (Pace student volunteer)
PHOTO COURTESY OF FEEDING WESTCHESTER

The Power of Feeding Westchester

1 in 5 Westchester residents do not know where their next meal is from.

Feeding Westchester provided:

8.4 million lbs of food = 7 million meals
2.2 million lbs of food provided to nearly 200,000 people through mobile food programs
Distributed over 432,000 lbs of food to over 3,000 seniors through their Senior Grocery Program
Grew local produce at 13 farm sites through their Food Growing Program
Partnered with more than 290 agencies across Westchester to feed the hungry

Source: Feeding Westchester 2017 Annual Report

From left are Feeding Westchester Representatives: William Holmes, Distribution Center Driver; Carlos Quezada, Warehouse Associate; Leslie Gordon, President & CEO; Jerrell Johnson, Warehouse Associate; and James Resnik, Warehouse Associate.

Feeding Westchester’s 26th Annual ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ Food Drive

The the leading hunger-relief organization in the county, Feeding Westcheser, is gearing up for the National Association of Letter Carriers’ 26^th Annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive on Saturday, May 12.

In the coming days, participating post office letter carriers will leave postcards in residents’ mailboxes that encourage them to place non-perishable foods near their mailboxes on May 12^th for neighbors who are hungry. The letter carriers will then pick up the food items and bring to the post offices for Feeding Westchester to pick up, store and distribute to those who are hungry in the community.

Feeding Westchester’s staff and trucks collect all the donations from the post offices in the county and are finalizing preparations for the nation’s largest one-day food collection event. Last year, the organization collected more than 21,644 pounds of food.

“Stamp Out Hunger is a very important campaign that makes it easy for residents to give back to their community simply by placing non-perishable food items at their mailbox,” said Leslie Gordon, President and CEO of Feeding Westchester. “With our neighbors help, we can all help ‘stamp out hunger’ in Westchester. Whether it is a bag of rice or box of pasta, canned vegetables or peanut butter, I encourage our local neighbors to join in this campaign. Together, we can make a difference.”

For residents who do not receive a postcard in the mail, the following is a list of participating post offices that will be collecting food donations on May 12 for the Stamp Out Hunger campaign:

Armonk Post Office

403 Main Street, Armonk

Bedford Hills Post Office

60 Adams Street, Bedford Hills

Bronxville Station Post Office

119 Pondfield Road, Bronxville

Centuck Station Post Office

1585 Central Park Ave, Yonkers

Chappaqua Post Office

107 North Greeley Ave., Chappaqua

Elmsford Post Office

2 East Main Street, Elmsford

Greystone Station (North) Post Office

7 O’Dell Plaza (Executive Plaza), Yonkers

Hartsdale/Scarsdale Annex Post Office

441 Central Park Ave., Scarsdale

Hastings Station Post Office

591 Warburton Ave., Hastings on Hudson

Yonkers Main Station Post Office

79081 Main Street, Yonkers

Purchase Post Office

3003 Purchase Street, Purchase

Rye Post Office

41 Purdy Ave., Rye

Scarsdale Heathcote Post Office

1112 Wilmot Rd., Scarsdale

Scarsdale Main Post Office

29 Chase Road, Scarsdale

Somers Post Office

110 Market Plaza, Somers

South Broadway Station Post Office

335 South Broadway, Yonkers

Tarrytown Post Office

50 North Broadway, Tarrytown

Tuckahoe Station Post Office

7 Columbus Ave., Tuckahoe

White Plains Post Office

100Fisher Ave., White Plains

Yonkers Av. St. (East) Post Office

915 Yonkers Ave., Yonkers

For more information about National Association of Letter Carriers’ 26th Annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive on Saturday, May 12, visit https://www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive/frequently-asked-questions. To learn more about Feeding Westchester, visit https://feedingwestchester.org.

About Feeding Westchester

For 30 years, Feeding Westchester, formerly known as Food Bank for Westchester, has been the heart of a network of more than 300 partners that provide food directly to the 200,000 county residents who are struggling with hunger. The county’s leading nonprofit hunger-relief organization sources and distributes 95 percent of nutritious food, and other resources, to towns throughout Westchester through soup kitchens, shelters and daycare and residential programs, delivering over 8.4 million pounds of food and 7.5 million meals to people. Westchester’s collaboration with major retailers and corporations, and its expertise in food procurement, storage, and distribution, turns every monetary donation into fresh food provided for our community.