WESTCHESTER, NY — As part of its annual Turkey Express program, Stop & Shop Supermarket Company yesterday donated 800 turkeys to the Food Bank for Westchester. As the county’s largest food collection and emergency distribution network, the Food Bank for Westchester worked with the Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless (WCHH) to distribute turkeys to 57 different agencies throughout the day.
Stop & Shop’s Turkey Express program will deliver nearly 21,000 turkeys to hunger relief organizations in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island this holiday season.
The Food Bank for Westchester, one of eight regional food banks in New York State and a member of the Feeding America network, estimates that one in five Westchester County residents — approximately 200,000 people — are hungry or at-risk of being hungry. One-third are children under the age of 18 and 22% are seniors over the age of 60.
“Stop & Shop is a great supporter of the Food Bank all year long in many capacities. Its turkey donation this season will enable us to distribute more turkeys this Thanksgiving,” said Ellen Lynch, executive director, Food Bank for Westchester. “Today is a great example of how the Food Bank leverages the generosity and resources of public, private, for profit and not for profit groups to make things happen for the hungry in Westchester. We turn their sincere desire to help into action that drives results. Stop and Shop donates the turkeys, and on the very same day the Coalition brings agencies from all over the county here to our distribution center to pick up the soon-to-be Thanksgiving center pieces.”
The holidays are increasingly busy for the Westchester Coalition Hungry and Homeless, especially Thanksgiving. Every year, for many years, the Coalition has made a promise to secure as many turkeys as possible and distribute them to its member agencies for their clients.
“Our collaboration with Food Bank for Westchester enables us to share resources, be efficient, distribute more Thanksgiving meals and feed more hungry people. Turkey requests from our food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters have increased by 48% this year. We are very grateful to Stop & Shop for partnering with us in our mission to meet the overwhelming need in Westchester County,” said Jeanne Blum, executive director, Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless.
“Thank you to Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, the Food Bank for Westchester and Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless for organizing this extremely important program,” said Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino. “The holidays can be a difficult time for the county’s neediest residents. This generous donation will help put food on hundreds of tables in Westchester this Thanksgiving.”
Incorporated in 1988, the Food Bank for Westchester is one of eight regional food banks in New York State. It acquires, warehouses and distributes more than 7.2 million pounds of food annually to 265 frontline hunger-relief programs, including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, day care and residential programs serving the estimated 200,000 Westchester residents who are hungry or at risk of being hungry. Based in Elmsford, NY, the Food Bank is located in a 37,000sf warehouse and is home to Westchester’s largest refrigerator and freezer. Visit www.foodbankforwestchester.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/foodbankforwestchester
To donate to the Food Bank for Westchester’s Turkey Drive, please visit www.foodbankforwestchester.org or text FB4W to 88500.