Why does it cost so much to run the food pantry?
Before the pandemic, we distributed once a month, to an average of 275 families. We were able to buy food easily and inexpensively through Feeding Westchester at a cost of about $6,000 per month.
But for more than a year, since the pandemic struck, the need in our community has grown significantly and we had been serving 500-600 families twice a month. For each family, we provided produce worth about $15 once a month, gift certificates good at C-Town once a month when we could not obtain fresh produce, and shelf-stable groceries twice a month.
The total cost was about $65 per month per family. This was a very modest assistance, especially when you consider that the average family size is four members. Since so many families were in need our total expenses rose to about $35,000 a month.
In July we were forced to reduce our distributions to once a month, because we simply did not have the financial resources to distribute twice a month. This saddens us all greatly, because we see that the number of clients in need has not diminished.
When do you expect the number of clients to decrease?
The question is, how great is the need in the community? Before the pandemic based on census bureau data, at least 20% of the combined populations of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow were food insecure. That is about 4,500 people, but we know that number is much higher now. That means we are only helping a fraction of those in need.
We’ve learned from prior economic contractions that the population we serve sees improved circumstances only at the tail end of a recovery. A recent article in the Journal News reported it could be three or four years before food insecurity reaches pre-pandemic levels. They’ve now gone through their savings, stopped paying bills and borrowed money from family and friends. They continue cutting back on groceries and those bills are really starting to accumulate. Their situation has gotten a lot more dire. Too many of our neighbors are one adverse event away from disaster.
Weren’t there a lot of donations during the pandemic?
Donations to the Community Food Pantry poured in during the first year of the pandemic, at a rate of nearly $40,000 per month between March, 2020 and March 2021. Those who could gave with overwhelming generosity and truly saved thousands of lives. During that period we had nearly 700 donors. Individual giving amounts range from $1 to $25,000. The average individual gift was $300, but many supporters are now giving monthly donations, and we are so grateful for this ongoing support. On average, each donor is helping five families a month with emergency needs.
But in April, once Covid-19 cases began to decline and the country began to get back to normal, donations to the Community Food Pantry dropped to less than $10,000 per month.
Don’t you have grants?
We have many grants, and they are included in revenue figure of $40,000 per month last year, which enabled us to meet the increased need. Westchester Community Foundation and the Kids’ Club are particularly significant givers, but so are families who give through donor-advised funds and many generous individuals who have given repeatedly. Many community organizations have supported us, and you can see a full list of them at our website.
What about food banks like Feeding Westchester?
We’ve taken advantage of every resource available to us. Feeding Westchester has suffered from difficulties in obtaining food because of the disruption of the supply chain and their distributions to us are still significantly affected. Of necessity we have frequently turned to restaurant supply wholesalers, which are much more costly. Our goal is always to provide the healthiest and most nutritionally beneficial food possible.
How about food drives?
While we appreciate food drives, it is very difficult for food drives to meet our needs given our volume. We prepare about 1,2000 bags of nonperishable food per month, and food drives generally cannot provide us with that volume of inventory.
Also, because we get discounts from some suppliers like C-Town and Feeding Westchester, financial donations go further because of our purchasing power. We are so grateful to anyone raising money on our behalf and will gladly provide literature to support your efforts.
If your organization wants to host a food drive, please contact us so that we can guide you in advance, and you can let us know when to expect the donations. Then we can adjust our ordering. It would be most helpful to collect large quantities of one item – shelf-stable milk or nutritious cereal, for example. A complete list of what we collect can be found at at our website.
Does the Food Pantry have other operating costs?
Our non-food expenses are $5000 per year: insurance, cleaning supplies, credit card transaction fees for donations, electricity. Rent is generously donated by Christ Episcopal Church and we are staffed by volunteers.
Does the Food Pantry have financial reserves to get through the current needs?
We do not have an endowment. As a result of the generous outpouring of support we were fortunate to end 2020 with reserves of $200,000. We deliberately accumulated those reserves so we could continue to meet the need in our community in 2021, when we anticipated there would be a dip in giving after year-end. Those reserves enabled us to meet our expenses for the first half of the year without a reduction.
Since the beginning of 2021 we needed to draw down an average of $20,000 per month from reserves. This was not sustainable and at this rate, our reserves would be depleted by the end of the year. So we now need to make cuts in the amount of food we give out in each bag, and the number of times per month we distribute. We really hope these cuts will be temporary but it all depends on donations. We don’t expect the need to go away.
What led you to volunteer for the pantry?
I’m an accountant by training and recently retired from a large poverty-fighting organization in NYC where I was the Chief Financial Officer. I was approached by a friend who asked if I could contribute and having lived in Sleepy Hollow for 39 years, I was grateful for the opportunity to use my skills to give back locally and help our neighbors in need. It was the right opportunity at the right time and I am so fortunate to serve alongside such an excellent, caring team.
