Fred's Pantry Manages Demand Surge

After the state of New York ordered all non-essential businesses closed due to the coronavirus in mid-March 2020, Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP) jumped into action and prepared for a sharp rise in food demand at Fred’s Pantry from people who no longer received a steady paycheck or faced fewer working hours as business demand waned.

Our expectations came true, two weeks later, when the number of households receiving food at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church more than tripled from the same first Saturday in April 2019 and the number of family members in those households nearly quadrupled. We were compelled to add a second day of distribution, Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

While some area food pantries have closed, CHHOP decided that feeding people in the midst of widespread layoffs was important and could be done safely, although it also required temporarily discontinuing Fred's namesake "choice" pantry system.

For the past four weeks, volunteers now pre-package food that is then evenly distributed to all clients on Saturday mornings and again Wednesday. Clients must queue up outside, six feet apart, and when it is their turn, they are handed several days worth of groceries, including eggs, meat and fresh vegetables.

“It’s really important that we get food into the community so that, throughout the community, there’s healthy and nutritious food for people who need it,” CEO Cynthia Knox said. “We wanted to make sure that we could do it safely.”

On April 4, a line of men and women pushing shopping carts and carrying reusable bags stretched from the church’s courtyard onto Howard Street and down Division, nearly reaching Main Street.

The 267 households receiving groceries that day was 326 percent higher than the same weekend one year ago, and the 1,137 family members in those households was 378 percent higher.

“We were predicting that there was going to be a surge in need, and we prepared for it,” said Knox.

The layoffs in Peekskill and surrounding communities have brought new faces to Fred’s Pantry. A woman from Peekskill loaded bags of groceries into the back of an SUV parked on Division Street on April 11. The woman, who requested anonymity,  was visiting Fred’s Pantry for the first time.

Six weeks ago she had a full-time job and savings. Then her employer closed, leaving employees “in shock.”

“I’m getting ready to start juggling bills,” said the woman. “Already, I’m about to start hitting my savings. I’m going to be paying one bill and paying another bill late because the money’s about to get tight.”