Cardinal Timothy Dolan prayed for a plentiful harvest at Catholic Charities Community Services of Rockland (CCCSR) on Saturday, May 4, as the Haverstraw-based organization prepared to plant for the season.

Inflation, particularly in food prices, has put pressure on many families in Rockland County, who have been forced to turn to Catholic Charities’ services to overcome shortfalls in budget and nutrition.

Peter Moore, a Catholic Charities volunteer, maintains the food pantry’s 70-foot by 50-foot Garden of Love, which includes both outdoor growing areas and a greenhouse. Moore told The Good Newsroom that the pantry currently serves about 300 families, offering 2,500 to 3,000 pounds of food per week. He described the people who use the pantry as “working families” who would not have the time or space to cultivate their own gardens.

The Garden of Love grows only produce that is best suited to local conditions, namely eggplant, green peppers, and zucchini, Moore said. In season, he and other Catholic Charities volunteers and workers harvest the produce on the mornings that the pantry is open, so that the families that come by can take the fresh vegetables home with them.

Cardinal Dolan toured the pantry, then blessed the soil, both of the Garden of Love, indoors and outdoors, and farms throughout Rockland County.

Along with Cardinal Dolan, in attendance were Monsignor Joseph LaMorte, Vicar General for the Archdiocese of New York, who was pastor at the Church of St. Gregory Barbarigo in nearby Garnerville from 2010-2018 before taking up his current role; and Monsignor Emmet Nevin, Dean of the Rockland County Deanery and pastor of St. Aedan Catholic Church in Pearl River.

“It was so moving for me to go up there and see all the volunteers, members of all the parishes who donate food to the pantry, to bless the food and include all the farm fields in our magnificent Archdiocese of New York,” Cardinal Dolan said in a video message recalling his visit, published Wednesday.

More than 100 people, including numerous elected officials from Rockland County and the Town of Haverstraw, attended the event. Cardinal Dolan had previously visited the pantry and blessed the soil in 2018.

CCCSR will hold its annual Hearts of Gold gala fundraiser on June 20. To donate to CCCSR, please visit their website.