Well, we made it, and this is a tale of generosity, community cooperation, humanitarian challenges and, regretfully, painful partings.
You once again amazed us with your avalanche of donations during the holiday season, and we our grateful to all of our donors in the Rivertowns and beyond who wrote checks, ran food drives, shopped for and delivered food to the pantry, and to the many businesses, religious institutions, and community organizations that supported us all year round. Thank you one and all.
Partners in Caring
Here are some of the enterprises in the area that stepped forward to provide our clients with a share of the season’s traditional touches that brighten homes.
Hudco’s Christy Sheppard Knell (at right in first photo) delivered 100 canned hams that were donated by Hudco members. Knell is shown with pantry volunteer Donna Assumma.
Wendy Holt of Houlihan Lawrence’s Ardsley office (center photo) dropped off donations of cereal and other foods that she and her colleagues collected. “Houlihan Lawrence’s Rivertowns offices are delighted to renew their partnership with the Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry this year, continuing their commitment to eradicating food insecurity in the community,” she said.
Sweetie Souza and Jessica Artus of Yarn Barn Buddies of Westchester showed up again this year with what it takes to keep our clients warm and cozy this season. The group’s mission is to do acts of kindness and provide Westchester residents in need with handmade hats, scarves and blankets.
A crew from the Take It or Leave It Garage in Hastings (photo at left) manned a table of gifts they assembled for our clients. TILI is open on Sundays and you can drop off usable household items and take whatever you like.
Continuing what they’ve done in previous years, pantry volunteers Mary Anne Griggs and Ellen Klein presented clients with gifts of candies, cookies and other confections provided by the pantry.
Sara Sellitti & Sons lent a hand to help the food pantry deal with a sudden shortage of volunteers, as did two more of our favorite backups: Ava Neumaier and Gaia Rilossi (below).
Their Finest Hour of 2023
The Rivertowns pulled together this summer to meet an extraordinary challenge: the arrival of 35 families of asylum seekers and migrants shipped from Texas to New York City, who were later sent to the Ardsley Acres Hotel Court.
The challenge arrived with little notice. Initially, South Presbyterian Church and the food pantry took the lead in organizing a supply channel that provided food, clothing and other necessities to support the asylum seekers and migrants. SPC Pastor Margery Rossi and church administrator Robin Larkins realized that our food pantry was the only organization at hand that had the experience and equipment to handle the logistical challenges. Pantry co-directors Vera Halpenny and Gretchen Skaggs agreed and, along with pantry volunteer Donna Assumma, they got things rolling. Rossi quickly joined other synagogues and churches in the Rivertowns to organize in support of the asylum seekers and migrants.
In Memoriam
We were saddened by the passing of longtime food pantry volunteer Benny Rodriguez, husband of pantry co-founder Molly Rodriguez (shown here). Benny left us on December 8. He was 83 years old.
For the past three years, Benny was the first person our neighbors in need met every Wednesday morning at the pantry. He welcomed them as he sat behind his desk, checking them in so that they could receive bags of produce, bread, milk, protein and more. He also handled evening food distribution on the last Wednesday of every month.
Benny had a generous heart and helped those in need navigate the ins and outs of the public assistance bureaucracy that he considered too limiting and restrictive. His patience seemed inexhaustible. He thought before he spoke, always with precision, and was equipped with a humor both sly and delightful.
He had a business administration degree from NYU (he served as the pantry treasurer) and spent his career in information technology, but what really seemed to define him was his love for Molly and their children, Cynthia and Robert, and his lifelong love of singing. He described himself as a crooner. His favorite song: “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
A memorial service will be held at South Presbyterian Church on Sunday, January 14, at 2 p.m.
Duke Coffey, a storyteller and pantry volunteer, wrote this month’s newsletter.
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 