May 9, 2019

     While the pantry was going on we were visited by Monique McCoy of Feeding Westchester, which is the organization that helps and oversees all the pantries and soup kitchens throughout Westchester.  She brought a questionnaire which all the clients filled out, addressing their satisfaction with both the food they’re getting and the help they are receiving from the volunteers at our pantry.  Hopefully we’ll get some feedback from Monique about how we’re doing and whether we need to make any changes.  We’ll keep the people on this list posted about what we learn.

     The diaper drive sponsored by the Rivertowns Rotary Club last Sunday at Stop & Shop was a smashing success.  Many people bought diapers for us, and many others donated cash.  I knew it would be a success for two reasons:  Dr. Nitin Gupta and Cirstin Conneely, who organized and carried out the drive, are engaging, enthusiastic people.  I knew customers would respond to their message; and I knew that the people who shop at Stop & Shop are generous and caring.  They have always gone out of their way for us, and we can trust them to help us every time.

     This coming weekend is the free clothing boutique at South Church, sponsored by Spring Community Partners.  Spring is affiliated with the schools in Dobbs Ferry, and they go out of their way to ensure that students have whatever they need to succeed in school, including providing clothing for them.  The parents and teachers of Spring were the first ones to come up with the idea of creating a food pantry in Dobbs Ferry, based on their concern that students might be struggling with hunger, which would interfere with their ability to learn.  And here we are, all these years later, still providing food for the hungry.

     This weekend is also the postal workers’ food drive.  If you leave food for your mail carrier, please make sure it hasn’t expired.  Many people just grab something off their shelves, and it may have expired years ago.  Under Feeding Westchester’s rules, the pantry can’t offer expired food to our clients, which is a good thing.  That means we just have to throw away whatever expired food we receive, so please do your part to make sure we don’t have to do that.

     Hope everybody enjoys Mothers’ Day!