Good afternoon, everybody – yesterday we served a total of 21 families, including 31 adults, 25 children and 9 seniors. Of those 21 families, 3 were families to whom we delivered food because they were elderly or disabled and couldn’t get to the pantry. Tricia took food to a family in Ardsley and Benny and I delivered food to two families in Dobbs Ferry. We’re glad to help.
In addition to our weekly bread donation from Stop & Shop and our weekly milk donation from Westchester Milk, we also get a donation of bagels every week from the New York Bagel Authority on Cedar Street in Dobbs Ferry, picked up by Ellen or one of the other volunteers. Whatever bagels we don’t give out go either to the Days of Wonder Day Care program at South Church or to the Dobbs Ferry and Irvington Senior Citizens’ programs. We deeply appreciate these regular donations and the volunteers who pick them up.
I attended an interesting Food Bank meeting on January 2 in Mohegan Park. It seems that everyone who comes in contact with the clients of a food pantry or soup kitchen must take the USDA Civil Rights training each year. I’m happy to say that, training or no, our pantry has never discriminated against anyone based on race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability.
To make our training a little easier, since everyone has to take the training, we’re scheduling a potluck during which we can eat and study the manual together so that we can all sign the log. Then we have to keep the log available in case someone from the Food Bank or the USDA ever wants to see it. And we’ll do this every year.
I hope everybody can stay inside today. If you’re someone who likes to play in the snow, bundle up.
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 