Last month, Foodlink partnered with the United Way of Greater Rochester and several community partners to hold additional food distributions to help those impacted by the federal government shutdown earlier this year.
The early release of February SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits in mid-January resulted in a “SNAP Gap” for thousands of families in the Rochester region. Foodlink and the United Way — with key funding support from the ESL Charitable Foundation, United Way of Greater Rochester, Rochester Area Community Foundation, Greater Rochester Health Foundation, and Max & Marian Farash Charitable Foundation — held 14 “SNAP Gap” distributions during the week of Feb. 18-23. The distributions provided 180,000 pounds of food to more than 12,000 people throughout Foodlink’s 10-county service area.
Foodlink provided food to 3,412 households — 52% in the City of Rochester and 48% in rural/outlying counties. Overall, approximately 7,000 adults and 5,000 children were served and the distributions provided nearly 140,000 meals. Three of the highest 5 zip codes served during the week were among the most food-insecure zip codes in the entire state.
The week leading up to the distributions required plenty of coordination as food arrived in Foodlink’s distribution center from around the region. More than 500 volunteers helped pack 40- to 50-pound bags of product — and dozens more assisted at several distribution sites. The City of Rochester helped set up distributions at four city R centers, and the Salvation Army also stepped up to host an additional distribution. The other nine distributions were held at pre-scheduled Mobile Pantry sites outside of Rochester.
More than 78,000 pounds of product were donated by local companies including: Barilla (pasta), Bonduelle (frozen vegetables), General Mills (cereal), Kreher’s (eggs), LiDestri (marinara sauce), Regional Distributors (supplies), Seneca Foods (canned goods), Perfect Granola (granola bars), Orbakers Fruit Farm (apples), and Wegmans Food Markets (bread).
From everyone at Foodlink, and all of those whom we served, thank you to all of the volunteers, donors and community partners who helped pull this off. Your support means the world, and our neighbors were appreciative of our collective efforts.
