Putnam Valley Community Food Pantry (PVCFP) was opened in November 2004
as a new venture to combat hunger in Putnam and northern Westchester counties. The
PVCFP serves communities including Putnam Valley, Lake Peekskill, Yorktown,
Cortlandt, Peekskill, Shrub Oak and Mohegan Lake.

Grace United Methodist Church, The Reform Temple of Putnam Valley, St. Luke’s
Lutheran Church, St. Columbanus Roman Catholic Church and the Putnam Valley
Rotary Club each wanted to reach out to The Putnam Valley Community. Leadership of
the food pantry is an interfaith and community based venture.

The Putnam Valley Community Food Pantry’s mission is to reduce hunger by providing
supplementary meals to all those in the community that are underserved, and to foster
and sustain the necessary financial and volunteer resources needed for long term stability
within the community. Our objective is to provide between 12-14 weekly meals per
week for clients, to increase awareness of the benefits of good nutrition, and to direct
clients to local, county, and state agencies that can provide additional resources. The day
the Pantry opened in 2004 we served 6 families. The pantry currently serves between
175-200 families a week. The pantry purchases most of the food they receive from the
Food Bank of the Hudson Valley located in Cornwall, NY. Some food, such as produce
and bread is provided free of charge. The PVCFP relies solely upon donations and grant
money to run their operation.

The mission is to provide assistance in the form of food products to those who meet the
qualifications in Putnam Valley and surrounding communities. Regulated by guidelines
issued by the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, the “pantry” operates out
of the basement of Grace United Methodist Church in Putnam Valley and is open each
Saturday from 10 AM to 11AM (longer if the demand requires it).

The Food Pantry is run entirely by volunteers. A group of volunteers (4 – 8) transports
anywhere from 4000 to 9000 pounds of food (depending on what ‘s available) each week
from the Regional Food Bank warehouse to our location in Grace United Methodist
Church in Putnam Valley. A much larger group (15 – 18) of volunteers distributes the
food to the families each Saturday morning.