Greetings from the Food Pantry!
On this most beautiful day, our wonderful volunteers served 140 households totaling 502 individuals. This is a bit of an increase, and we are still seeing additional families registering with the pantry on a weekly basis.
Over the weekend, Ardsley Methodist Church and the Boy Scouts brought us two carloads of goods, several donation checks and gift cards. The church continues to faithfully give to our pantry on a regular basis. Although it’s a small congregation, they maximize their giving capacity beautifully. They brilliantly partnered with the Boy Scouts to do a food drive. Check out this quick video of young gentlemen doing community service!
A shout out goes to Sara Sellitti who heads up the Springhurst Gardens for her contributing fresh greens and ensuring we benefit from surplus school lunches.
Not only do we want to nourish the bodies of our neighbors, but also their minds. We offer children’s books and some Spanish books for adult readers.
Fresh produce is one of the most important staples we offer, and most is purchased by the pantry. But the Temple Beth Shalom has been providing one vegetable every week that will go in 150 bags for months now. Today it was avocados – thank you to Cantor Robin Joseph and the entire congregation!
We pride ourselves in trying to give our neighbors choice wherever possible. Here is a table of goods that they can pick from and our volunteers take note of what they really enjoy so that we can order more products to their liking in the future.
All of our volunteers bring their energy and goodwill to the pantry and are respectful of honoring our neighbors in every interaction. But one young man, Adam Galland, a high school senior, really shined today. He impressed everyone with his perfect manners, helpfulness with our neighbors and the fact that he is bilingual really made a difference. It is so gratifying to see the next generation picking up the mantle of kindness.
I leave you with one individual’s story. This gentleman came to this country from Iran hoping to start a business in the States. The timing could not have been worse for him, because the pandemic hit and his business dissolved. He came to the pantry starting last October and he is now able to get clearance to return to his country. He was very gracious and thanked us profusely for helping him survive in a foreign country. He will be returning to Iran with very positive feelings about the US, all due to how he was treated at the Pantry. Goodwill and kindness can go very far.
Most needed items this week: Fresh produce, size 6 diapers and baby wipes, adult diapers
This week’s newsletter written by Co-Director, Vera Halpenny, who keeps our smallest clients in diapers.
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 