Rockland Coronavirus Update: Food Pantries, Federal Funds

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — As the new coronavirus in Rockland County continues to spread, thousands of pounds of food will be distributed Thursday from the Hudson Valley Food Bank to pantries and feeding programs in Rockland. Collectively, these pantries serve over 30,000 meals per month and the need is growing exponentially, county officials said.

From 9 a.m. to noon, Rockland Community Against Hunger will be overseeing the Get Fresh food distribution from Building A, 50 Sanatorium Road, Pomona.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of bringing their own volunteers, the pantries will participate in a drive thru.

The Food Bank will deliver the food and arrange the pallets at least 6-8 feet apart. Each volunteer will be working independently to load food from an assigned pallet directly to the pantry’s vehicle. Volunteers will be provided with masks and gloves. The RCVOAD, the United Way Rockland County, TOUCH Congers and the Rockland County Youth Bureau helped coordinate the distribution event and the volunteers.

So far there are a dozen pantries signed up to receive food:

• Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center
• St. Ann’s Food Cupboard
• Rockland Interfaith Breakfast Program
• Sloatsburg Food Pantry
• Salvation Army Food Pantry
• Nyack Food Pantry
• Spring Valley UMC Food Pantry
• Iglesia La Mission Food Pantry
• STLC Foundation Food Pantry
• Good Counsel Homes
• Christ Church of Ramapo
• Upper Room of Worship Food Pantry

New York health officials reported as of midnight Tuesday that 9,699 people in Rockland County have tested positive for new coronavirus since the outbreak began. There were 131 new positives. In Rockland, 41.9 percent of those tested are positive.

County officials report 401 residents have died of COVID-19. There are now 439 people hospitalized in the county with confirmed or suspected cases.

The hardest hit-communities are now Garnerville and West Haverstraw, where more than 3.5 percent of the population are infected.

Rockland County lawmakers are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to disperse COVID-19 relief funding based on the needs — not the population — of the counties that have been impacted by the virus, including Rockland County. He said the federal CARES Act funds will be distributed based on the size of population instead of the needs of a particular community. About $7.5 billion will be allocated to New York State, with just $2.4 billion of that amount allocated to local governments that have a population of 500,000 or more people.

In a letter to Cuomo April 20, Legislator Hofstein pointed out that Erie County has 2,109 positive cases and 153 deaths and Monroe County has 1,054 positive cases and 66 deaths. But Erie County has a population of about 919,000 people and Monroe County has about 742,000 people.

In contrast, Rockland, which has suffered far more positive cases and deaths, has a population of about 326,000 people, well below the threshold for the federal CARES funding, he pointed out.