The month of August marks our final month as high school summer volunteers at the Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry. As rising seniors, we took this summer to try to give back to the community that has raised us. From our time here we have learned the significance of generosity and the willingness to show up each day. After volunteering at last year’s Thanksgiving food drive, we were eager to come back because of the kind community we observed.
On August 18, many of our volunteers were absent, but regardless, the volunteers that were present persevered and kept the pantry running smoothly. Due to the lack of volunteers, we high schoolers ran our own table for the first time without the help of an adult volunteer. We had so much fun organizing and running the table by ourselves, and we felt like we were able to fully display everything we had learned over our weeks this summer at the pantry.
Throughout our time spent at the food pantry, we have become a part of a community. Everyone values helping others and wants to lift each other up. There was an immense amount of rain one Wednesday morning and through this everyone was able to navigate it with the help of pop-up tents and positive attitudes.
We have a new addition to the food pantry named Indie. She represents EmblemHealth and is providing people with information about affordable insurance. This is a major help for many clients at the Pantry.
None of us knew how much we would enjoy coming to the food pantry every Wednesday, but we truly looked forward to it each week because of the amazing people we collaborated with who run the food pantry and the people we serve. We are all going to miss the wonderful community and all of the conversations, advice, and overall fun we had each Wednesday. The people wholeheartedly make the place.
We are always grateful for the ongoing support from the following organizations and local businesses: Dobbs Ferry Lutheran Church, Irvington Presbyterian Church, South Presbyterian Church, Temple Beth Shalom, United Methodist Church, Woodlands Community Temple, Zion Episcopal Church, MOM’s Organic Market, Panera. Stop & Shop, Sunshine Bagel and The Shop.
This month’s newsletter was written by Anjali Jaundoo, Willa Roth & Sophia Maltby
Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry 