Food pantries are vital

Food pantries nourish the most basic needs in our communities, and thanks to two local churches, the Harlem Valley is now blessed with the addition of the Food of Life Food Pantry at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church on Leedsville Road in Amenia.

St. Thomas’ is being helped by the Grace Church in Millbrook — both are working with a collaborative grant from Episcopal Charities. Together members of both churches have been working to create the pantry and fill its shelves with nonperishable goods.

Three years ago a community garden was planted at St. Thomas’; it’s overseen by church members and the produce is donated to OWL’s Kitchen in nearby Lakeville, Conn. In fact it was those at OWL’s Kitchen (the acronym stands for Older Women’s League) who planted the seed, so to speak, in the mind of Rev. Betsy Fisher, vicar of St. Thomas’, about starting the food pantry in the first place.

They could not have tapped a better go-to person, for Fisher, the first full-time vicar at the church in 150 years, is full of energy, bright ideas and good intentions. She brought her sense of good will, her clear faith in humanity and her disarming charm to the community-at-large when she came to Amenia. With this project those admirable qualities are getting the chance to stretch way beyond the walls of her charming church into the lives of those who need extra support.

Fisher, meanwhile, gives credit to those around her who have helped organize the food pantry. They, too, are certainly worthy of commendation.

“A lot has to do with how wonderful the people here are,� she said. “[My congregation] is a warm, vibrant and happy group committed to caring for the less fortunate among us.�

We agree and thank them as well.

Indeed so much food had been collected during the months that the pantry was being organized that pews had to be removed from St. Thomas’ for extra storage space. That speaks volumes about the church members’ priorities and their ability to put words to action.

Meanwhile, others in the Tri-state region are following suit, as a new food co-op started up in neighboring Sharon, Conn. Angel Food Ministries, an organization based in Georgia, made its first delivery last week to the Congregational Church in Sharon.

Angel Foods provides low-cost food through local churches; anyone can sign up as there is no income limit and church membership is not required.

Granted, the appearance of more food pantries in the area garners a mixed reaction.

On the one hand it’s disheartening to realize there are so many people who are in need of an extra hand, who can’t make ends meet on their own. But then reality is not always pretty. The economy is in a recession; people are losing their jobs or not getting paid enough at the ones they have; families are losing their homes; the ill and infirm cannot afford medical care; high school graduates can’t afford college and college graduates can’t find employment; and the list goes on. The bottom line is,  times are tough and they’re only getting tougher.

It’s good to see the area responding to a very real need, one that must be met if we’re to make sure everyone is going to be fed. Once that fundamental need is taken care of we can start to work on other issues, but first things first.

To contact the Food of Life Food Pantry at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, call 845-373-9161. The pantry will be open every Friday from 3 to 7 p.m.

To contact the Sharon Congregational Church for more information about Angel Foods Ministries, call 860-364-5002.

There are also other pantries to visit, volunteer at or donate to. They include: The Millerton Food Pantry, 518-789-3077, P.O Box 929, Millerton, NY 12546; Amenia’s Vine and Branches, 845-373-8193, Lavelle Road, P.O. Box 109, Amenia, NY 12501; Pine Plains’ Community Food Locker, 518-398-7692, 4930 Route 199, Pine Plains, NY 12567; OWL's Kitchen, 860-435-2529, P.O. Box 153, Lakeville, CT 06039.

Let’s all do whatever we can to ensure our food banks prosper. Even more so let us root out the causes of the problems that lead to hunger in the first place and try to eradicate such depravity from our communities — first locally and then around the world.