RCF's Thanksgiving Grant Program To Benefit 20 Rockland Food Pantries

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — For the 17th year, the Rockland Community Foundation has partnered with Inserra Supermarkets to award grants to Rockland County’s food pantries.

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, this grant will provide much needed food and supplies to local residents, RCF officials said.

One of the recipients is People to People of Rockland County.

"We are very grateful," Diane Serratore, P2P's Chief Executive Officer, told Patch. "We're providing food to about 5,000 clients a month. It's staggering."

They are seeing 43 percent more than they used to — about 3,500 people a month. When SNAP pandemic benefits ended, she said, "people who were getting by now can't get by anymore. They come to us."

SNAP is the monthly assistance program formerly known as food stamps.

During the height of the pandemic, safety net programs gave Americans a lifeline, according to the Associated Press. The final pandemic-boosted SNAP payments went out at the end of February. The average family started receiving about $90 less per month in March, although some households dropped by up to $250, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

This year the Rockland Community Foundation received more applications than ever for its Thanksgiving grants, RCF officials said. And more than ever before will get them — 20 local food pantries, eight more than last year.

"There are a lot of struggling families in Rockland," Serratore said. "Everybody's struggling. Inflation is affecting everybody, including the people who usually donate to us."

The food pantries receiving grants from the Rockland Community Foundation are:

• Capabilities Partnership Inc.
• Catholic Charities of Rockland
• Center for Safety and Change
• Christ Church of Ramapo
• First Evangelical Baptist Church Food Pantry
• Head Start of Rockland
• Meals on Wheels
• Mt. Zion Food Outreach
• People to People
• Rockland Community College Foundation
• Rockland County Pride Center
• Salvation Army Spring Valley Community Center
• Sloatsburg Food Pantry
• South Orangetown Central School District Food Pantry
• St. Ann’s Food Cupboard
• St. John Deliverance Tabernacle Food Pantry
• Tomche Shabbos of Rockland County
• Touch Food Pantry
• Upper Room House of Worship
• West Street Child Care Learning Center

The checks will be presented to the various food pantries at their locations throughout the month of November.

"Thank you again to Inserra for their generosity, as well to our board members and fund holders who donated in support of this vital program," said Julie Sadowski, Executive Director of the Rockland Community Foundation.

Go to their website for more information on how you can help support their Food Pantry Grant program.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.