Halfway through the year, and we are going strong! Our second annual Swing Into Summer Gala was a huge success, providing much needed financial support for our feeding programs which now extend across Westchester County.
Even when we don’t travel outside of our home base in Port Chester, we experience an increase in clientele. The free summer bus service has brought individuals and families from Western Westchester, including White Plains and Elmsford to our mobile pantry trucks and we have received requests to deliver meals and groceries to families in need across the 287 corridor.
How are we meeting the demand?
This year, we added a second mobile pantry truck to our fleet, allowing us to double the amount of stops we can make in Port Chester, while adding stops in Ossining, New Rochelle and Croton on Hudson.
In 2022, we implemented our first cooperative pantry, a fully volunteer run operation funded and supported by Meals On Main Street. Each week, a hundred or more families receive a variety of choice groceries from their friends and families, right within their neighborhood.
We have also added a Food Recovery team dedicated to collecting donations from supermarkets and suppliers throughout the county. Our goal is to double donations of produce and dairy to help us fill our trucks.
We believe every community wants to ensure that no families experience food insecurity, so we are developing tools to help volunteers and community groups reach those who have been neglected in the past. Working together, we can help get food to everyone who needs it by focusing on that last mile, reaching people where they live.
If you would like to find out how to help your community tackle food insecurity, please reach out to me personally at BillCusano@mealsonmainst.org. I look forward to hearing from you. Let’s plan to meet over coffee in our new building when we open in the coming months.
With sincere gratitude and thanks,
Bill Cusano
Executive Director