Yorktown Heights Drive Collects 750+ Pounds​ Of Food

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY — New York State Senator Pete Harckham held a food drive Saturday, at the First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown and collected more than 750 pounds of food and household goods for the First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown Food Pantry.

The pantry helps feed some of the neediest members of the Yorktown community, including many seniors.

Organizers said the food drive was in partnership with the church’s food pantry and the New York State United Teachers.

Harckham said the need to fight hunger continues, with many people facing food insecurity.

“While it is important to help keep our local food pantries stocked, we also need to keep raising awareness of this situation," he said. "As always, I am thankful to all those who donated and also for the many volunteers who made this a successful event.”

This was the 12th food drive the senator has hosted. In the 11 prior food drives since March 2020 — one each in Sleepy Hollow, Peekskill, Mohegan Lake, Bedford, Pleasantville, Carmel, Croton-on-Hudson and two drives in Mount Kisco and Somers — Harckham and volunteers have collected more than 35,000 pounds of food items and more than $10,000 in cash donations so far, according to a spokesperson.

The food drive in Yorktown Heights was a “Drive-Thru, Drop Off” event. No food was distributed; it was only collected. Volunteers collected bags and boxes of food from each vehicle without the need for drivers to get out of the vehicles.

Rev. Tami Seidel, co-pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown, said she was grateful for the community’s support, which allows the pantry to reach more people.

“Our food pantry is always in need of more donations because the need for food continues,” she said.

The Food Pantry of the First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown has been in operation for more than 30 years, said Katharine Frase, one of the church’s lay leaders and a volunteer at the pantry. Food is distributed from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month.

On the second Saturday, they distribute diapers, and on the fourth Saturday, they provide nutrition shakes and incontinence products to clients over 65.

Most of the church food pantry’s client households have at least one adult working full-time but still suffer from food insecurity, which has been made worse by the pandemic and the current inflationary trends. There are a large number of senior clients and a distressing number of veterans who need the pantry’s services.

The Food Pantry is housed within the church buildings but operates independently of the church’s operating budget. Along with the support of the Yorktown community for contributions of volunteer time, financial contributions and food donations, the pantry relies heavily on Feeding Westchester to stock its shelves, organizers said.