Good afternoon, everybody – This past Wednesday we served 152 families, including 306 adults, 196 children and 56 seniors, for a total of 558 people served. Our beloved delivery volunteers took food to 37 families. In January we served a total of 461 families and 1,669 people. We averaged 115 families and 417 people per week this month.
I received a call from a contact tracer, reporting that there is a family in quarantine in our area. Robin immediately went to Stop & Shop for them and Roma put together a supply of food from our stores at the pantry. The family was relieved to have food to eat while they must remain in the house. We’ll be delivering food to them as long as they are in quarantine, as well as possibly running other errands for them. And if they still need us after the quarantine is over, we’ll still be there for them.
We’re also adding a local100-year-old woman onto our delivery list. That’s how the Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry rolls.
This past week a caravan of pantry volunteers drove to the Shames JCC and accepted 150 prepacked Blizzard Boxes, which were all given out to our clients on Wednesday. The boxes were adorably decorated by the JCC members who packed them. I sent Stacey Merchant a thank-you, and maybe we’ll have more Boxes next year. The Boxes were originally packed in preparation for the JCC’s Martin Luther King Day of Service. And what a great service they provided, to us and others!
Ardsley Methodist did another food drive for us last Saturday. Ken Stahn came on Monday, with his car packed with over $1,000 worth of food, plus cash and gift cards for us. He told us that they’ve been helped by the local cub scouts. I don’t know what we’d do without the Ardsley Methodist Women and all the groups that pitch in to help them, like the Ardsley PBA and the scouts. And they’re going to do it all again in February, despite the cold!
We’ve also received several deliveries of food from a group called Doin’ Good in the Hood. Erica, the director of the group, has worked very hard to help the pantry, and we are so grateful to her for her energy and determination.
This Monday we’ll be receiving our first delivery of food from Driscoll Foods. They serve many pantries and soup kitchens in the area, and they’ve added us to their list.
And this coming Thursday, February 4, Vera and I will be meeting remotely with the Philanthropy group of the Scarsdale Woman’s Club to educate the members a little more about how we started, what we’ve accomplished and what’s changed for us during the pandemic (a lot). The Woman’s Club has done multiple food drives for us, and they bring all the food to us from Scarsdale in a parade of cars. They are a cheerful and hard-working group, determined to help wherever they can.
So far, the pantry has dodged a bullet as far as snowstorms. It’s important because the pantry is all outdoors. Let’s hope February is as kind to us.
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 