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Rondout Food Pantry Awarded Grant from Ulster Savings Charitable Foundation
Posted February 5, 2024
(Kingston, NY) The Rondout Valley Food Pantry (RVFP) has been awarded $4,000 from the Ulster Savings Charitable Foundation for their Children’s Feeding Programs. Now in their 30th year, this organization provides nourishment and education for individuals and families in need.
The grant money will support the non-profit’s two programs for children: the Backpack Program and the Summer Breakfast/Lunch Program. Children aged 1 month to 17 years old receive baskets to help cover the breakfast and lunch meals they receive while in school on the weekends and throughout the summer to ensure they have access to nutritional food year-round.
During the school year, volunteers assemble backpacks containing a weekend’s worth of food to assist students who have a need for additional food support. The backpacks are distributed to the Rondout Valley Central School District elementary and middle schools. Students take the backpacks home and return them the following Monday. In the summer months when children are not in school, the Summer Breakfast/Lunch Program provides three days’ worth of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to the guests at the pantry who have children. Each year, the RVFP packs, distributes, and delivers 13,000 meals to children in the school district.
The Ulster Savings Charitable Foundation was formed in 2003 to assist the local community in areas of housing, education, and human services.
For more information about the Rondout Valley Food Pantry, visit them online at www.rvfoodpantry.org.
Photo Caption: The Rondout Valley Food Pantry receives a $4,000 check from Ulster Savings Charitable Foundation. Pictured (from left to right): Connie Harkin, VP Marketing, Ulster Savings Bank; Charlotte Smiseth, Director of Operations, Rondout Valley Food Pantry; and Melissa Carlile, Stone Ridge Branch Manager, Ulster Savings Bank.