Giving Rye: Meet Meals on Main Street
Giving Rye is a new occasional feature highlighting non-profits and community groups in and around the City of Rye. Today meet Jon Haseltine of Meals on Main Street.
Your Name: Jon Haseltine
Organization: Meals on Main Street
Your role: Executive Director
MyRye.com: Tell us your organization’s mission.
Haseltine: The mission of Meals on Main Street is simple, yet powerful … We fight food insecurity wherever we find it and provide access for those in need. We do this by gathering high-quality food from grocery stores, restaurants, commissaries, and local farms and distribute it via our mobile pantry trucks and through our network of community-based partners.
How long have you operated in Rye?
Haseltine: We are headquartered in Port Chester and serve many locations in Westchester County, as well as Fairfield County, CT and the Bronx, NY. We have been operating as an IRS-approved nonprofit organization since 2013, but we began many years ago in a small house in Port Chester through our initial organization, Caritas of Port Chester, Inc. We are fortunate to have several Board Members, Auxiliary Board Members, Volunteers, Supporters, and Donors from Rye.
What programming or work in Rye is the organization best known for?
Haseltine:
- We gather amazing, high-quality food from Rye and other communities in Westchester County, Fairfield County, and the Bronx.
- We source our supportive volunteers from Rye. These volunteers are critical and fulfilling the work of our mission to fight food insecurity in the surrounding communities.
- We invite the Rye community to support our work in helping those who are in need of receiving a nourishing meal. This year we are on track to hand out more than 1,000,000 meals for the first time ever!
Looking forward to 2025, what will be your top initiatives?
Haseltine:
- Our primary initiative for 2025 is to refine the way that we are serving our mission by gathering, processing, and delivering high-quality food in a cost-efficient and nutritious way. Essentially, if we are able to further optimize our operations and improve our data tracking systems, we will be able to serve more clients in need.
- Our secondary initiative for 2025 is to expand our volunteer capabilities so that citizens of Rye can easily engage and support our ongoing work in a meaningful way.
Tell us about the population you serve and how they can get involved with your programming and services.
Haseltine: We serve all that are in need of a meal. This mainly includes low-income and home-bound people who cannot afford and/or are able to go to a grocery store and buy what they need to survive. Our four key programs include:
- Gathering high-quality food from groceries, restaurants, commissaries, and local farms.
- Cooking meals for community-based organizations and their clients.
- Stocking and putting together grocery bags of perishable and nonperishable food for home delivery.
- Bringing meals to specifically-targeted geographic locations through our Food Hub model.
Are you a 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status?
Haseltine: Yes, we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Looking back across 2024, what were your organization’s top achievements?
Haseltine:
- We moved into our new headquarters office on Main Street in Port Chester. This is important because we now have a state-of-the-art food processing headquarters that also houses a commercial kitchen and pantry.
- We built out our leadership and programmatic team to better serve our mission. This is important because we now have the leadership and team to help us grow and thrive as a mission-driven organization.
- We will have passed 1,000,000 meals served in the calendar year 2024! This is important because it demonstrates that our services are key to the survival of our communities.
How can local residents support your organization?
Haseltine: Local residents can volunteer, be a part of our Board of Directors, Auxiliary Board, or Junior Board and donate funding support throughout the year to help us fund our work to nourish our communities.
What local Rye residents and area businesses have been the longest, steadiest supporters of your organization?
Haseltine: Meals on Main Street has enjoyed long-standing support from committed public servants including George Latimer and Steve Otis, as well as from several faith-based organizations like Rye Presbyterian, Resurrection, Christ’s Church Rye, Rye Synagogue, and from education-based organizations including Resurrection School, Rye Elementary and recently Rye High School – especially with food drives and community services days.
Tell us about you:
How long have you been in your current role?
Haseltine: I joined Meals on Main Street in the summer of 2024. I am the new executive director and drawn to a mission that helps people in such a meaningful and tangible way.
Is the role full time or part time? Paid or volunteer?
Haseltine: I work full time at Meals on Main Street.
How would your friends and family describe you in one word?
Haseltine: My friends and family would describe me as focused, balanced, patient, and compassionate.
Where did you grow up?
Haseltine: I was born in rural New Hampshire and grew up in coastal Maine where I learned how to cook, ski, surf, fish, and enjoy the four seasons.
What is your favorite unimportant thing about you?
Haseltine: My favorite unimportant thing about me is that I automatically wake up at 5am every day. Essentially, I have never used an alarm clock to start my day.
If the next five years is a chapter in your life, what is this chapter about?
Haseltine: This chapter for me is all about taking my social work skills, business management skills, and leadership experience to help a wonderful organization thoughtfully grow to meet the evolving food needs of the very members of our communities that need it the most. I am committed to serving our mission and helping more people thrive.
What would you do if you were not afraid?
Haseltine: I think that skydiving might be a lot of fun and I would jump out of an airplane if I were not so afraid of my parachute not opening!
Where do you live in Rye and how many years have you lived in the City?
Haseltine: I live in Cortlandt Manor, NY.
Thanks Jon!
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