Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP) has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation for Fred’s Pantry. The funding from the grant will begin in January 2023 and allow CHHOP to continue its mission of serving the most vulnerable in our communities.
Over the past year, the demand for food from Fred’s Pantry has reached record levels. For the first eleven months of 2022, the number of households that received food from Fred’s Pantry increased 27.1% year on year to 17,523, and the number of household members who were provided food by Fred’s Pantry increased 47.8% year on year to 82,293; these are record numbers for CHHOP, and this grant will help immensely.
“We are thrilled to have been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation,” said Cynthia Knox, CHHOP CEO. “This grant will allow us to continue serving our clients at Fred’s Pantry who are facing food insecurity at record numbers this year, while also providing tools and resources to uplift our clients out of systemic poverty.”
“As we begin to recover from a pandemic that has hit vulnerable populations the hardest, we must continue to address the challenges communities across New York State are facing: food and housing insecurity; lack of access to basic healthcare including vaccines; workforce issues; and educational, racial, economic, and health disparities made worse during COVID-19. We must continue to support the full range of services that make for healthy people and communities,” said Msgr. Gregory Mustaciuolo, Chief Executive Officer of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.”
“As we look back at the compounding crises of the last few years, the health-related needs of vulnerable communities have only grown. Our grantees have demonstrated tremendous resilience, creativity, and dedication to serving those in need, especially as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have such detrimental impact,” said Alfred F. Kelly, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Visa and Chair of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Board.
The $100,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation will allow CHHOP to purchase healthy, nutritious food, provide food vouchers for participants with chronic medical conditions to enhance their nutritional food intake, and hire a community coordinator, a game-changer for CHHOP.
The community coordinator will coordinate with health, legal, employment, and immigration services to assist Fred’s Pantry clients with resources and tools to help them out of systemic poverty; this is a life-changing role.
