SFP Volunteer Update – November / December, 2021
Happy Holidays! I wish all of you love, joy and happiness for the holiday and the new year. I give thanks for all of your kindness and generosity despite the pandemic which still surrounds us. You demonstrate the importance of supporting our neighbors through your actions and support of the Pantry.
And now for the updates!
Open House
We opened the doors to show local businesses and supporters our construction progress on October 22nd. Approximately 70 guests attended with raffles, food and refreshments provided by Mike Malandra, Mia's Kitchen, Westtown Brew Works and Warwick Winery. We even had local news coverage by News 12! See our News & Events page for links.
Volunteer Orientation
At the beginning of December, we held a Volunteer Orientation. Thank you to all who were able to attend. Susan and I talked about changing volunteer roles, our plans for indoor distributions as well as giving everyone an overview of how the pantry functions.
Approximately 40 volunteers joined us at our Volunteer Orientation.
Distributions
Thanks to all of you, we successfully held 38 outdoor distributions since COVID began. Our first was March 24th, 2020. The change from indoor choice pantry to outdoor involved a lot of adjustments, input from you and patience by all. Take a look at some photos from our 1st and last drive-thru.
March 24, 2020 – 1st SFP drive-thru from the Sloatsburg Village Hall parking lot for 207 families.
November 17, 2021 – Final SFP drive-thru from All Souls Community Church on Oliver Street for 393 families.
On December 7th, we opened the doors to the Fellowship Hall for our 1st indoor distribution in 20 months! I have so many feelings attached to this change.
Gratefulness to the All Souls Community for welcoming the Pantry.
Appreciation for all of the dedication, work and patience of our Board, volunteers, clients, ASCC and the renovation team.
Honor to be able to work closely with Susan – her dedication to the Pantry and each and every client is inspiring.
Relief to be inside during the upcoming winter months and going forward.
To date in December, we served 333 families for our 1st session period (3 openings) and 308 families for our 2nd session period.
To continue to serve all of our client families, we have increased our open days from two to six each month. Below is the schedule for January. I will forward a separate email with the links. Thank you in advance for your support!
Wednesday, 1/5 (distribution)
Tuesday, 1/11 (delivery & distribution)
Wednesday, 1/12 (distribution)
Wednesday, 1/19 (distribution)
Monday, 1/24 (delivery only)
Tuesday, 1/25 (distribution)
Wednesday, 1/26 (distribution)
We anticipate fully moving into the new space before our January distributions!
Fundraising
So excited to share that we are very close to meeting our $200,000 goal raising $195,000 to date! The generosity within our community has been amazing! We are so grateful to all who have helped with our fundraising efforts.
Our raffle brought smiles to four top prize winners and 10 runner ups. The raffle planning and printing was done by volunteer Seth Spivak with all prizes donated by pantry supporters and volunteers including Larry Sedwick, Aileen Bruner, Kidde family, Spivak family, Tuxedo Park Golf and Marcello's. We also have a new prize that came in for a future fundraiser thanks to Ashley O'Leary. Pastor Will and his family graciously pulled the winning tickets for us on November 27th. With everyone hitting the streets selling tickets, we were able to raise over $15,000!
Business sponsorships and individual donations were super strong getting us so close to our goal. Click here to view the list of our Business sponsors.
I am so grateful to be able to spend more time inside with you and our families. This move will allow us more opportunities to provide additional help and support to clients as well as just talk and be together.
Since being inside, several clients commented how much they enjoyed choosing their food from the indoor pantry. Being able to take items they need and skip those they do not is very appealing.
Many clients have expressed their gratitude and well wishes to all of you. Just yesterday, a senior client called to wish each of the volunteers a happy holiday.
May the warmth of the season be upon you and your family. I look forward to working with you in 2022!
Respectfully yours,
Joyce
201.394.0627