The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Pace University

Festivities Galore in Store at ‘Hudson Valley Fermented’

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The Pleasantville Rotary Club will be holding their wildly successful charity fundraiser, Hudson Valley Fermented, again this year. This tasting event of New York craft beverages and samplings from the best Hudson Valley restaurants will take place Saturday, March 16. The Rotary Club raises funds for local and international charities; last year alone, $30,000 was raised and hopes are high to top that this year. Major beneficiaries of Hudson Valley Fermented 2019 will include Team Fox for Parkinson’s Research, Pleasantville Fund for Learning, and Break the Hold (suicide prevention and mental wellness).

Hudson Valley Fermented will be held at Pace University’s Kessel Student Center in Pleasantville. This upbeat, festive event will feature over 30 cutting-edge breweries, wineries, distilleries, cideries, as well as delicious food offerings from over a dozen of the finest restaurants from the greater Hudson Valley region. In addition, there will be live music, dancing, raffles, auctions, and more.

For more info, visit hvfermented.com

Feeding Westchester Celebrates 30th Anniversary

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& 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