Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus…
Santa arrived at the Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry this December in many guises; as our neighbors from Dobbs and surrounding villages, as civic organizations and as local businesses. We extend our sincerest appreciation to all the generous people who made donations to the Pantry this past month, and while I cannot include everyone in this newsletter, I would like to mention the following contributors.
David Cheney slid down the chimney with over $15,000 in donations from The Landing.
Jessica Artus, from YarnBarnBuddies-Acts of Kindness left beautiful crochet and knit hats and scarves under the tree The bags held these beautiful crochet Knit caps and scarves made by the team led by Jessica Artus Founder of Yarn Barn Buddies of Acts of Kindness. Follow her on Instagram @yarnbarnbuddies.acts of kindness.
The Dubensky family came with their sacks of food. (left) Sheila Noonan-Gotham from the band Greetings from Anywhere had a Holiday Celebration and flew in with a generous amount of money and bags of donations(middle). Raisa Fitzgerald arrived with a sleigh full of donations from Sound Associates(right).
Ronnie and Frank delivered goods from a Parent-Committee project and the children of the early childhood center of the Shames JCC(left). The Pantry’s own Mary Toomy (right) put on her Santa hat and brought grapefruits and oranges from the Rotary Club. And the Rotary Club donated an additional 6 crates of fruit the following week!
There were donations from Lee Grodin and Darwin Avenue neighbors in Hastings(left). Ann Altman came with bags of food(middle), and Jeannine Elder had donations raised by the Girl Scouts of Irvington(right).
As in past years, the Pantry purchased special Christmas gifts for the families. Mary Anne, Ellen and Ed went to Home Goods and loaded their sleighs with 100 gifts, such as Panettones, tins of cookies, and Christmas baskets with candy, all of which were distributed to everyone who came to the pantry on the Wednesday before Christmas.
We would also like to thank the Community Nursery School for their weekly donations of food. The Methodist Church of Ardsley generously gave us a large amount of food and money and the Scarsdale Women’s Club made wonderful donations as well.
Mary Jane Shimsky, our New York State Representative, stopped by. As always, we appreciate your support.
Of course we must thank our year long Santas who provide food on a weekly basis. The Westchester Food Bank has produce, meat, eggs, rice, pasta, canned goods among other food. MOM’s organic market donates organic produce, milk, yogurt, and vegan items. Panera and Stop and Shop give us bread and baked goods every week, and Sunshine Bagel and The Shop donate bagels. Thank you Gordon for the weekly donations from Episcopal Church.
Helping Santa of course are his elves, aka the Dobbs Ferry Pantry Volunteers, who thought that they were at the North Pole last month as they braved unseasonably Arctic weather each week as they distributed the goods to the families. They are an elf-effacing group of dedicated people who make the Pantry a welcoming experience for anyone who arrives at the doors of South Presbyterian Church.
We must thank Pat Berman also, who rolled into the Pantry with a donation of toilet paper.
As tempted as I am to add some sophomoric double entendres, I shall simply say:
THE END
Ed Griggs
Upcoming Event
All-Star Jazz Benefit Concert
Thursday, January 22, 2026, 7-10 p.m.
Join us for an evening of great music at Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, and help raise money for the food pantry. Jazz Forum, a longtime supporter of the food pantry, is donating the amount raised from ticket sales to the pantry, and the musicians are donating their time.
Come hear Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, Bill Mays, Eric Person, David Janeway, Duane Eubanks, Mark Morganelli, Gary Smulyan, Cameron Brown, Tony Jefferson, Ron Vincent, Dean Johnson and others. Doors open at 6 p.m., and you can enjoy food and drink.
Tickets are $35. To buy tickets here, click on the date and time then choose the number of tickets you want. We’ll livestream this concert, too.
See you soon! And thank you for your support.
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 