Guest Editorial: Westchester food pantries are needed more than ever.

While Westchester County is one of the wealthiest counties in New York, it still has an 11% poverty rate, which has been steadily increasing since 2018.

by Victor Illonardo

Gunner Andersen, President of the Croton Cortlandt Food Pantry/ Photos by Victor Illonardo

Every week families queue up in long lines waiting for their local food pantries to open. They anticipate getting basics like cereal, canned tuna, and rice. If they are fortunate, there will be fruit, vegetables and meat. Families rely on pantries to keep their families fed.

Food pantries throughout Westchester perform a critical function providing basics to people in need. Feeding Westchester, a non-profit organization located in Elmsford, delivers food by the truckload to pantries throughout Westchester including Croton and Ossining. The Croton-Cortlandt Food Pantry operates out of Holy Name of Mary Church and the Ossining Food Pantry operates from Grace Church, Trinity Campus.

The demand for food has increased dramatically since Sue Monroe, the Purchasing Coordinator, for the Ossining Food Pantry joined the non-profit over 20 years ago. “Back when I started we were serving around 75 households, today it is over 350.” Each of those households represent thousands of individuals in need. This past January, her pantry fed approximately 1100 children and 500 seniors. That includes delivering groceries to the homebound.

Gunnar Andersen, President of the Croton-Cortlandt Food pantry, has seen the number of families increase from about 75 when he started at the pantry in 2016 to about 160 in 2025. Mr. Andersen is a humble man who claims he only got the job at the pantry because he could reach the top shelf for items: “Helping people just gives you a great feeling” he continued, “The pantry supports everyone from moms with their babies on their hips to the elderly and everyone in between.”

He noted the number of people who come in early dressed for work just trying to get a few things to meet their basic needs. “In these times, with an important grant recently put on hold, community donations become even more important to provide for people in need.”

While Westchester County is one of the wealthiest counties in New York, it still has an 11% poverty rate (a rate that has been rising since 2018). Worse, according to the United Way, an additional 25% of Westchester households that are above the poverty level still fail to earn enough income to meet the basic cost of living. Taken together, 36% of households in our county are struggling to afford essentials.

Looming cuts to Medicare and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) could drive more people into food pantries, straining their already precarious resources. Illinois recently shut down a program which provided locally grown produce to those in need due to federal cuts. This has harmed both farmers and recipients of their output. Ms. Monroe also expressed concerns about rising food prices; the physical infrastructure of her pantry; and getting enough volunteers.

And there is a real need. Ms. Monroe stated, “People wouldn't line up for two hours before opening in all kinds of weather if there wasn’t a need.” However, she strikes a positive tone “We have always been surprised and delighted with the generosity of the community. Our supporters recognize that providing basic food to people in need is just the right thing to do.”

If you are interested in supporting a local food pantry you can do so here:

Croton Food Pantry or Ossining Food Pantry.

Victor Illonardo is a Croton resident, Ossining Pantry volunteer, and coffee drinker.

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