Sloatsburg — Set back off Rt. 17 in Sloatsburg, directly across from Village Hall, stands the original white Methodist Episcopal Chapel built on land given by Jacob Sloat and through donated work in 1843. The Chapel is the first dedicated place of worship in these parts and has been used continuously since opening — as school, dining hall, thrift shop.
Some days all appears quiet, while on other days a quick walk through the Chapel’s side door and step down into the kitchen will put you into the center of a quiet bustle of communal activity, especially this time of year. Stacks of canned goods line tables as volunteers sort and pack incoming foods, choices of breakfast cereals, dry goods, breads. Another volunteer ducks in, bringing new contributions from down the street or from somewhere else across western Ramapo. A delivery of 75 Thanksgiving turkeys, a donation from ShopRite, is scheduled to arrive any moment.
The chapel’s kitchen is the heart and home of the Sloatsburg United Methodist Church Food Pantry, a quiet fixture, open nearly 20 years and today serving 130 members twice a month — all families and students within the Ramapo Central and Tuxedo Union Free school districts. Part of a larger alliance of food pantries and feeding programs across Rockland County, the food pantry is a near invisible but vital living example of neighbors helping neighbors.
“Families come in to get three days’ worth of food,” said Susan Meyer, pantry director. “We serve three meals per person, three days’ worth of supplements. The food pantry works to alleviate some of the everyday stress parents and seniors struggle with,” she added. Meyer said the pantry tries to be a hospitable comfort zone, ever mindful of respecting the dignity of people who come in, a place where people can go for a helping hand.
Meyer has been a whirlwind of activity, whether traveling to Spring Valley for deliveries from the regional food bank in Albany or managing the giving streams and volunteer teams.
“We’ve seen a 100% increase in membership,” she said. “It’s definitely the economy. The working poor, underemployed, single mothers. We’ve also seen an increase in senior members. During these difficult economic times, more and more people need help.” She mentioned her attendance in early November at the Hunger Summit hosted by the Rockland Hunger Alliance, which focused on identifying resources for community hunger issues and preparing for the holidays. “The little amount of money they can save from us,” Meyer said, “the more they can put toward other things, household items, clothes for the kids. Basic needs.”
Although the UM food pantry is open and collects food year round, this season is flush with activity and need. This is the time to stock the pantry full. Drives take place throughout the area. Boy Scout troops in Suffern, Sloatsburg and Tuxedo rally donations. Kids from Suffern Middle and High schools hold collections. Staff at the Sloatsburg and Tuxedo libraries operate on-going drop-off boxes where patrons can contribute. The girls’ Suffern High School Field Hockey team recently raised $500 for the pantry. The Bagel Train along Franklin Turnpike in Suffern sends bagels. Ken Hayward of Haywards Deli in Sloatsburg, a quiet, regular donor, contributed 20 turkeys for the season.
“The Thanksgiving meal is a lot of leg work that goes on long before,” said Pastor Agnes Campbell Saffoury, who has led Sloatsburg UM Church for five years now. “There appears to be a plentiful bounty come January, when you come into the building it will seem full. But then there comes the rest of the year.”
“You praise God for the holidays, when people want to give, want to help,” Pastor Agnes said of the uptick in generosity.
Careful and scrupulous about not wanting to draw extra attention to the occasion, Meyer described the special holiday boxed meal as a “regular allotment of food with Thanksgiving fixings.”
Hunger is all around, invisible in communities because people don’t speak openly about it. In a land with store shelves stocked to overflow, it can be difficult to reach out. Feeding America, one of the largest hunger relief charities and network of food banks in the country, reported that millions of people live with food insecurity — which can mean food scarcity due to economic hardship and rising food costs that lead people to go without. Whatever the case, food banks throughout the U.S. have reported big increases in the number of clients.
“The first thing mothers will give up is food,” Meyer said. She mentioned a new Sesame Street character introduced during a recent special episode on hunger in America. Lilly, a pink seven-year-old girl in a blue dress, is a shy and uncomfortable muppet, aware of her economic situation. She feels shame. But as Lilly learns about her neighbors and neighborhood, she discovers hope and feels stronger. The issues are specific ones Meyer addresses at the food pantry. How to provide food and dignity, how to welcome people who are vulnerable. She and food pantry volunteers offer support and relief. Meyer said they work to create a comfortable, safe haven for members.
“Food is one of the most basic human needs and one that no one should have to suffer without,” Meyer said. “Knowing you can provide your family with nutritious food allows one to concentrate on other obstacles that may be faced on a daily basis.”
This Thanksgiving holiday the Sloatsburg United Methodist Food Bank served some 75 households, or 318 people — adults, children and seniors from in and around western Ramapo. School kids. Neighbors. Friends.
