Foodie Bus Joins Mobile Food Pantry in Ossining

Twice a month, staff members from the Ossining School District volunteer to help Feeding Westchester distribute fresh produce, meats and canned goods at Park School.

They recently welcomed Jen Cook and her Foodie Bus to the Mobile Food Pantry Distribution. The chef and entrepreneur retrofitted a 2002 BlueBird school bus to include a kitchen and a dining area that looks like a barn. People can hire her and the bus for a private farm-to-table dining experience, but she also uses the bus to educate people about cooking and eating healthy food. She created a nonprofit called the H.E.L.P. Bus, which stands for Healing, Educating, Liberating People.

At a Mobile Pantry Sept. 25, she and volunteer Gail DiLisio of North Salem took food that Feeding Westchester was handing out and prepared something families could make at home. They cut up cucumbers, yellow peppers, tomatoes and onions, placed them on a bed of iceberg lettuce and drizzled them with olive oil. “Instead of making the regular bowl of salad, why not change it up?” she said.

“I’m just here to offer a different way of cutting a vegetable, maybe that they’re not familiar with, or a different pairing of ingredients that they wouldn’t normally think would be something that they would do,” said Ms. Cook, a 1989 Ossining High School graduate.

Ossining Superintendent Raymond Sanchez said Feeding Westchester has been an excellent partner in helping meet the needs of the Ossining community, and the Foodie Bus is a great addition.

“It’s a great opportunity to show how some of the things that are being distributed to our families can be used to create healthy meals and healthy options for our families,” he said. “So it’s beyond just giving the food but also shows them some healthy ways to prepare it. It’s great.”

In addition to the Mobile Food Pantry, which is open to anyone in need, the Ossining school district also participates in the BackPack Program, which supplies children in elementary schools and Anne M. Dorner Middle School with food to take home on the weekend.

Feeding Westchester provided a grant for Ossining High School this year to set up a Marketplace twice a week to help families. The pantry includes a refrigerator and freezer and storage cabinets, all supported by the grant. Students can take what they need from the pantry, and families can also visit and fill a bag. Ossining School District staff members also volunteer in the pantry. Students in the school’s Life Skills program are in charge of putting the food away when it arrives each month.

In October, the organization began sponsoring a Fresh Market (produce only) at Ossining High School once a month. The first date was Oct. 19. Feeding Westchester also sponsors a Mobile Food Pantry at Star of Bethlehem Church in Ossining twice a month.

Ossining is one of Feeding Westchester’s five highest need areas in the county, and the Ossining School District “is a vital hub for feeding within the community,” said Leslie Gordon, president and CEO of the nonprofit.

“The most impactful part of working with the Ossining School District is that they are always looking for ways to reach more people in need, so they are always open to new and innovative programs,” she said. “As participants of all of our major feeding programs here at Feeding Westchester, we can truly say the district targets feeding families in need through many different avenues.”

At the Mobile Pantry Sept. 25, Claremont School physical education teacher Sandra Mitchell-Radcliff handed out numbers to people as they arrived to secure their place in line. On that day, she handed out 140 numbers.

“I love to help out and give in any way that I can. It makes my heart feel good,” she said. “I know the community is thankful that a program like this is available to them.”

Vicky, who lives near Park School, said the food she receives from the Mobile Pantry supplements what she is able to purchase with her limited budget. It has also exposed her to foods she would not normally purchase, such as English cucumbers and star fruit.

“Without damaging my scrawny little food budget, I can try things that I’ve never had before,” she said.