This month’s newsletter is a volunteer appreciation post. The only reason we’re able to feed more than 100 families each week is because of our dedicated team of around 30 lovely humans who show up week after week. We’ve had very little turnover in our crew for the last couple years because we have become a family, working together to accomplish a feat each and every week.
From teenagers to octogenarians, our family arrives each Wednesday ready to haul, unpack, display, and distribute our bounty of produce, canned goods, shelf stable items, food donated and purchased.
But most importantly, they take the time to learn the names of our neighbors in need, they greet them with smiles and hugs, ask about their week, their health, their families. Our volunteers learn what kind of bagels a client likes and sets some aside for them. One volunteer knew that one of our clients missed his home country of Iran and started buying dried fruits and nuts for him that remind him of home. When we started getting an influx of refugees from Ukraine, one of our volunteers hung a Ukranian flag each week to show support.
I have been told many times by our clients that our volunteers see them as human, not as a statistic. Our volunteers show respect and serve our clients with the dignity they deserve. After being thanked by a client, I overheard one volunteer say, “who knows, next week I could be in this line and you could be serving me.”
We have also recently begun delivering food on a weekly basis to the asylum seekers living in Ardsley. Our volunteers have tried to provide culturally appropriate foods to ease their transition. They have collected clothing, grills, and baby items – all above and beyond their work at the food pantry.
It takes a village – in our case, several villages: Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Ardsley and Irvington.
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I would also like to thank the Elmwood Day Camp of Ardsley for collecting two vans full of shelf stable food and diapers; the Scarsdale Womens Club, Ardsley Methodist Church, Irvington Presbyterian Church, Temple Beth Shalom, Zion Episcopal Church, and Deep Roots Farm for their monthly support and of course, South Presbyterian Church.
And a special thank you to the Peluso/Fader family and their friends For the second year in a row, they have spent their summers purchasing and packing our “SOS” bags – School’s Out Supplements. These are extra bags we give families with school-age children who are no longer receiving two free meals a day at school while school is out. The generosity of the Peluso/Fader family over the last few years to our pantry cannot be overstated and we are so very grateful to all of them.
This week’s newsletter was written by Co-Director, Gretchen Skaggs, who is so proud of her community.
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 