The Sloatsburg Food Pantry has quietly operated in the United Methodist Chapel along Route 17, serving the greater community week in and week out. But then the current crisis caused cascading events in peoples’ lives and suddenly the Food Pantry stepped up in Sloatsburg to meet a pressing demand.
From loading trucks to collecting supplies to raising funds to staffing distributions, the Sloatsburg Food Pantry has been busy serving the wider community that includes Suffern Central School District and Town of Tuxedo residents.
Food Pantry applications can be found here.
A team of Sloatsburg Food Pantry volunteers help out behind the scenes, preparing food bags at the Sloatsburg Fire Hall.
The last Food Pantry distribution took place at the end of April at the Sloatsburg Municipal Building and saw some 364 customers served, an enormous increase in use for the Food Pantry. Staffed by volunteers from all walks of life, these days the Food Pantry has needed an extra helping hand.
The current safe-distancing food pickup procedure at Sloatsburg’s Municipal Building was put in place by new Sloatsburg Food Pantry Director Joyce Donohue, who recently took over the directorship of the non-profit group from longtime director Susan Meyer (who now serves on the Food Pantry Board of Directors)..
Meyer was responsible for growing and stabilizing the Food Pantry as a Sloatsburg institution, seeing it through its transitional to non-profit status. Created in the 1990s as a Sloatsburg United Methodist Church outreach program, under Meyer’s tenure the Food Pantry expanded it services to include the entire Suffern Central School District and Tuxedo, and connected the program with Rockland Community Against Hunger, which collaborates with food pantries throughout the county.
The Sloatsburg Food Pantry normally offers food distribution twice a month, on the second and fourth Tuesday, from 2:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. It’s next scheduled distribution takes place on Tuesday, May 12, at the Sloatsburg Municipal parking lot, where participants will once again take part in a drive-thru pickup service.
If you’d like to donate to the Sloatsburg Food Pantry, visit its website at SloatsburgFoodPantry.org to find out more.
