This October, Westhab partnered with Feeding Westchester to launch a new indoor food pantry program at Dayspring Community Center. The program will run every second Thursday of the month in addition to the already bustling mobile food pantry that occurs monthly at Dayspring. Both pantries offer an opportunity for community members to receive fresh and dry food staples. With the help of Feeding Westchester and our dedicated volunteers, the indoor pantry alone is expected to serve over 100 households monthly.
Dayspring has been operating a mobile food pantry since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. What started as an emergency response has become a neighborhood institution. The indoor pantry will offer an important second chance for community members to access free goods, as well as a myriad of other services at the community center, including employment training in high-demand industries.
Dayspring Director J.C. Soto shares, “Dayspring programming takes a holistic approach, offering services that try to meet the immediate and long-term needs of all community members, whether that be STEM education in after-school or basic necessities like food and help with employment. We offer all of our other services to everyone who comes to the pantry. ”
At the first indoor pantry event alone, staff served 102 households. Those households include 149 children under 18; 233 adults aged 18-59; and 24 seniors, aged 60+. “Clearly, the need is still there,” says Soto. “And years after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to draw large lines every last Thursday of the month [at the mobile food pantry].”
Rich Nightingale, President and CEO of Westhab shared, “Westhab is incredibly grateful for this partnership with Feeding Westchester and the opportunity to expand a service that is all too needed in this community. We would also like to thank our dedicated staff and volunteers, especially Community Service Coordinator Theresa Colyar, who has run the mobile food pantry since its start and has overseen the distribution of thousands of bags of groceries! She will be passing the torch to Community Case Manager Suyapa Hernandez-Lopez, who has been instrumental in getting the indoor pantry up and running.”
If you are interested in volunteering at either monthly pantry, please contact Suyapa Hernandez-Lopez (suyapa.hernandezlopez@westhab.org) who will assume the lead on these projects come November 2023!
*Caption for cover photo: Westhab staff volunteered to bag and distribute packages at the first indoor food pantry.
