Mass Food Giveaway A Huge Success
by Doug La Rocque
There is an old phrase – “it takes a village,” but in this case, it took a county, a state and lots of dedicated individuals. They all came together on Monday morning, November 9, to hand out enough food to feed an estimated 425 households or about 1,500 people. The giveaway was put on by Catholic Charities Mobile Outreach Vehicle Extension, also known as CC Move. It started these giveaways a couple of years ago in Amsterdam, and it continues to grow. In August of this year, an event was held at the Hoosick Falls Central School parking lot. Monday’s program was hosted by the Grafton Lakes State Park. Manager Melissa Ann Miller was the driving force behind obtaining permission from the Office of Parks and Historical Preservation to use the Grafton facility, not that New York State was ever opposed to it
. Helping to place packages of food in one of the hundreds of vehicles to drive through the line that day, Ms. Miller told The Eastwick Press, “this is the perfect place for it, and just the right thing to do.” She and her staff at the park were exceptionally helpful, with set up, traffic flow, dispensing the food boxes and even clean up. None of this would have happened without all those at GLSP.
The food was provided by the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, much of it donated by local farms and stores. Others instrumental in lending a helping hand to those in eastern and central Rensselaer County were the Capital District Area Labor Federation, which participates in all these events and the multitude of volunteers that showed up that morning to help. The call went out in The Eastwick Press that some assistance was needed, and you showed up in very large numbers to lend a hand to all those needing a little pick me up during this pandemic.
Thanks also go out to Rensselaer County Sheriff Pat Russo, who sent Deputy Zach Orseni to watch over traffic at the park entrance and keep things flowing all morning. Kudos also to the Grafton Rescue Squad for standing by, and to the Grafton Highway Department for helping with traffic flow.
Other organizations who also sent representatives to lend a hand were: Grafton Area Food Pantry, Grafton Baptist Church, Macedonia Baptist Church in Albany, St. Kateri Church in Schenectady, St Peters Health Partners, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Albany Chapter and Ignatian Volunteer Corps [IVC].
The worst of the pandemic has brought out the best in people throughout the country and the world, but nowhere more so than right here in Rensselaer County. The Eastwick Press is proud to have been one of the sponsors. And also thanks to sister Betsy Van Duesen who manages these events for Catholic Charities. We all know what Grafton weather can be like in November. She put in a long distance phone call and was answered by sunshine and 70 degree temperatures.
Want to make another call in December and January for us, Sister?