The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley was swarming with people at 11 a.m. on Thursday. There was a television camera and a horde of volunteers in the lobby. There were a pair of journalists in the warehouse. They had come to report on the free food being provided to furloughed workers. But, at the moment, there was no one taking advantage of the offer.
The workers did come! Almost a dozen showed up when the doors opened in the morning. And by the end of the day, 22 people had collected provisions. If you count family members, the outreach helped 74 people.
Not knowing what the response would be, the hosts were neither elated nor disappointed. Paul Stermer, the director of the Food Bank, commented on the distribution on the following morning. “I guess it was a big deal for the people who got a three-day supply of food,” he said. They didn’t know the shutdown would end on the following Monday.
And the first-of-its-kind venture may have benefited the hosts as well as the recipients. The event attracted several volunteers who had never been to the Food Bank. It’s possible that some of those folks may want to come back.
People who want to volunteer at the Food Bank can email pstermer@foodbankofhudsonvalley.org. Nonperishable food items can be brought to the building (195 Hudson Street in Cornwall-on-Hudson) on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monetary donations can be made at www.foodbankofhudsonvalley.org.
We asked Mr. Stermer if he planned to host another food pantry. “That’s a good question,” he admitted. “Our board of directors asked the same thing.”
He wasn’t sure of the answer, but he hoped that the shutdown would end soon — which it did!
