Good afternoon, everybody – yesterday our valiant volunteers broke another record. They served 84 families (last week there were 81), consisting of 168 adults, 123 children and 28 seniors, for a total of 319 people served. There were a number of people from areas other than the Rivertowns, but since several pantries have closed temporarily, we’ve determined that we’ll serve everyone who needs food. We can figure out who is served by a pantry in a different area after this is all over. We will never send anybody away empty-handed.
The pantry has a dedicated corps of volunteers who work wonderfully together. We really only need around five or six volunteers because we’re streamlining the process so that the clients can get their food and gift cards and quickly leave. A couple of Wednesdays the pantry has had so many volunteers that people were tripping over each other. My only hope is that the volunteers who are above and beyond the five or six can wait until we need more volunteers. Then they’ll already know the lay of the land and can jump right in.
We received more masks from volunteer mask-makers yesterday. Anilla’s friend, Theodora Argyros, has not only made masks for the pantry but has sold other masks and donated the money she made to the pantry! Anilla came yesterday with an envelope full of cash from her. Thank you so much, Theodora!
On top of that, Peggie Blizzard sent more hand-made masks. The volunteers were able to offer masks to the clients as they picked up their food. In fact, most of the clients already had masks, but whoever didn’t received a mask yesterday.
This was the third week that Harper’s Restaurant sent food for our clients to take home. The clients got food from Feeding Westchester, some produce purchased for us by Adele Falco of Curiositas, gift cards, and prepared food. And Adele will be ordering more produce from Harvest Field Market in Tarrytown, who is providing the food to Adele at a reduced price for the Pantry. Thank you, Adele.
Dobbs Ferry has suffered some painful losses due to this virus lately. South Church in particular has lost a loved one whose absence will be felt profoundly for years to come. I hope everybody on this list stays safe and strong until this scourge finally leaves us.
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 