Coronavirus: Fred's Pantry Perseveres In Peekskill

PEEKSKILL, NY — Fred's Pantry in Peekskill has seen a huge increase in demand in the past month. During the first nine days of April, the pantry provided food for nearly five times the number of people it helped this time in 2019. That's up to more than 350 households, about 1,500 children and adults.

The new coronavirus pandemic is the cause, of course, with so many people out of work.

Ironically, many food pantries in Putnam and Westchester counties, including in Putnam Valley and Ossining, have had to shut down. Fortunately, Fred's was able to come up with ways to handle all the problem areas including deliveries, packing, distribution, and lines.

At the beginning of March they set up protocols, including a limited number of volunteers on site bagging, getting pre-bagged groceries from Feeding Westchester, and setting up social distancing protocols.

"We had volunteers who said 'we need to make this happen,' said Cynthia Knox, CEO of Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP). "It's just an imperative because the need for the food is so great. We have a 12 percent poverty rate in Peekskill and that doesn't count people who are food-insecure but not at the federal poverty level." (The federal poverty level is roughly $20,000 a year for a family of 3.)

It has become even more essential now that the two grocery stores in downtown Peekskill, La Placita and SaveALot, have closed, she said.

"Everybody is gobsmacked by this," she said. "But people like me, people like you, we can get to the grocery store even if we're afraid to."

Fred's Pantry also added a second distribution time to their standard Saturday mornings, which run from 8:30 a.m. until doors close at 11. The next distribution is 4-6 p.m. Wednesday.

To protect people being served, the pantry has instituted new procedures.

For one thing, they're now distributing bagged groceries. That's a change from its regular "choice" pantry way of operating, which had until this pandemic allowed people to browse among racks of food and choose what they wished.

"We are also making sure that families line up with proper distance maintained between them, and that means our lines have stretched longer than we've ever seen," officials said.

Fred's Pantry is located at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 137 N. Division St.