Carver Center Food Pantry Pro on the SuperBowl, SuperFood Drive – Donate Today

MyRye.com asked Carver Center Food Pantry Manager Tarin Gonzalez, M.S. to tell us about her operation in Port Chester that will be recieving donations Rye residents deliver to the Rye PBA / MyRye.com SuperBowl, SuperFood Drive.

Here is what Gonzales told MyRye.com. Have you brought your donation to Rye PD headquarters?

The Carver Center Food Pantry is a supermarket style pantry. We try to cater to our clients by providing the foods that they will consume and cook for their families.  A year ago, we were servicing approximately 1,200 people a month, now we are serving approximately 1,350 people a month. Our emergency cases, which are people coming for the first time, have tripled in the last 3 months. We try to provide healthy foods to our clients because we consider the health of our clients as well. We distribute approximately 30,000 lbs of food a month.

85% of our population is Hispanic.  In order to qualify for our services they must meet the Federal Poverty Level, which is 300%. For example, a family of 4 may not exceed $66,000 a year. A family may only come once a month. The majority of the people who visit our pantry on a monthly basis are women, because the men are usually looking for work or are working.

Many of our donations come from food drives organized by schools, houses of worship, community groups, corporations, local business and groups of people getting together to ensure the well being of others within their own community.  We are very grateful that our community is so giving and socially conscience.

Many of our families are hard working families that aspire to succeed in this country. Many of them are poverty stricken due to the lack of education, the inability to communicate in English and the lack of work opportunities.  In the last couple of months, we have seen more and more cases of the men, the bread winners of the home, leaving their homes and their families behind because they can not cope with the fact that they can no longer support their families. 

With the donations collected from the Superbowl, SuperFood Drive you’ll not only be helping these families ensure they have food on the table, but it’ll provide hope and support.  This food demonstrates that we as a community can work together and help those stricken by poverty overcome the economic hardship they face everyday. 

Our pantry is not only about providing food, it’s a where families can come and find a friend.

Watch the SuperBowl, SuperFood Drive video, post a flyer, tell your friends and please drop off a food donation (see the list of requested items) at Rye Police Headquarters at 21 McCullough Place in Rye (by the train station) now through February 12th.