This will be my final entry on this blog. It will be continued by various younger and more tech-savvy volunteers, who will keep you posted about what’s going on at the Pantry. The Pantry and the blog will be in excellent hands. Several of our volunteers are excellent writers.
This past Wednesday in the morning we served 159 families, including 306 adults, 203 children and 56 seniors, totaling 565 people. Then in the evening we served 16 more families with 35 adults, 18 children and 5 seniors, for a total of 58 people. This brought us to 175 families (a record), 341 adults, 221 children and 61 seniors. We served 623 people on Wednesday and made 48 deliveries. For the month of April we averaged 141 families a week and 511 people. A year ago, in April 2020 (we were already submerged in the pandemic) we averaged 86 families and 326 people per week. Look how our population of needy families has grown!
Since last Wednesday was my final day (and evening) at the pantry, we had a party. Speeches were made, hugs were given (we’ve been vaccinated!) and we ate some delicious muffins provided by Renee Kashuba (www.foodmadebyrk.com). You should taste her zesty cheese muffins!
And yesterday I was interviewed by Jeff Wilson from the Enterprise. He’ll be interviewing Vera and Gretchen also, so watch the Enterprise for a story on the pantry.
Last night Benny and I saw David Janeway and his group perform at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar in Nyack. I’m sure everyone on this list attended the virtual concert he and several other musicians performed free of charge at Jazz Forum Arts back in January for the benefit of the Pantry. The musicians, including Mark Morganelli, co-owner (with his wife, Ellen Prior) of Jazz Forum Arts, gave a stellar performance and just about all of the proceeds came to the Pantry. David and his colleagues made a lot of money for us that evening, and it was great to see him at his best last night in a jazz club. You can follow David on his website (www.davidjaneway.com) to see where he’ll be performing next.
A shout-out to Ardsley United Methodist – they did another food drive for us last Saturday and Ken came on Monday with his SUV packed with food, together with a pile of gift cards and several checks from individual parishioners, as well as cash donations from the church’s pastor, Beth Vieira and Rev. Mark DelGuidice in memory of his wife, Song. AUMC has stood by us through thick and thin and we love them for it.
And another shout-out to Dobbs Ferry Lutheran. They did a food drive for us over Easter, and on Wednesday they delivered eight bags of food. The food from both churches will be given out this coming Wednesday.
Dobbs Ferry is a small town, so I know I’ll see the people on this list on Main or Cedar Street, or in Stop & Shop. I’m sending a virtual hug to you all!
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 