Rebecca Dowling, chair of the Cape Vincent Community Food Pantry Board of Directors, said she wanted Assemblywoman Russell to see the steps the food pantry is taking to serve the community.
"We kind of wanted to show off a little bit. We also wanted to show her what we are able to do with the money she secured for our food pantry. We also wanted her to see what you can do when you step outside the box and have real dedicated volunteers," Ms. Dowling said, noting there are currently over 20 volunteers on the food pantry's roster.
Assemblywoman Russell has secured additional funding for North Country food pantries on an annual basis for the past several years and is passionate about providing food pantries with financial assistance so they can meet the need in their communities.
The funding goes to the Food Bank of Central New York and then is allocated to the food pantries in the North Country so they can stretch their food budgets by getting the basics at a reduced rate
Assemblywoman Russell said her visits to the food banks around the North Country provide her with a better understanding of challenges facing local families.
"My stop in Cape Vincent was very valuable. They are doing great work at the food pantry and that is a reflection of the dedication of their volunteers," Assemblywoman Russell said.
"We not only talked about the clients' need for food, but that for a large part of the year they also face transportation challenges," Assemblywoman Russell said.
"A lot of the clients who utilize the food pantry in Cape Vincent walk there and then carry their box of food home. It really shows the depth of poverty in some sectors of the community. It is also a reminder that we often times have to tackle more than one issue related to poverty just to keep families going," she noted.
The food pantry, located in the Memorial Hall of the United Methodist Church at 260 East Broadway St., has embarked on a number of new initiatives in recent months.
Ms. Dowling said Cape Vincent food pantry volunteers are now directly picking up surplus food from local grocery stores.
"The Food Bank of Central New York had been picking meat up from the stores, and we were getting our meat from them. It's a win-win. We are able to pick up that meat, and now we have the meat here to hand out along with produce and bread," she said.
"It's fabulous. We were buying our meat from the food pantry, but delivery times were difficult. This solves all those problems," Ms. Dowling added,
She said when the pantry receives more meat than it needs the bounty is shared with the Feed the Vets program in Watertown.
The food pantry is a joint venture of the United Church of Cape Vincent, St. John's Episcopal Church and the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church.
"All three churches support the food pantry with donations, assist us with our fundraisers and help us with our special holiday programs," according to the food bank's board chair. "It truly is a community effort. We have representatives from all three churches on the board."
"We benefit from a community garden so we are able to provide our clients with fresh, healthy products. We also received a grant from the Salvation Army we are using to purchase personal care items for our clients," Ms. Dowling said.
"We're trying to serve our community, not just with food but with a dignified life," she noted.
IN THE PHOTO:
Rebecca Dowling, chair of the Cape Vincent Community Food Bank Board of Directors, discusses some of the agency's initiatives with Assemblywoman Addie Jenne Russell (r).
