Auxiliary Bishop John Bonnici joined the clergy, staff, and students of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) in Elmsford to open and bless a new storage facility at OLMC-Elmsford Community Food Pantry, which serves scores of families in the surrounding area of Westchester County.
The blessing took place on November 5 at a site that holds special significance for Bishop Bonnici—it was his first parish assignment 34 years ago. “Interestingly, when I was here 34 years ago, that was the pantry,” he recalled, pointing across the yard at its former location. “It took Father Bob and all of you to take it from there to here.”
Yvonne Johnson, director of the pantry, welcomed attendees to the opening of the new space. “Today we celebrate the blessing and opening of our new storage facility, which comes after four years of hard work and support from our volunteers, our donors, and our parishioners,” she said, noting that the pantry is completely volunteer-run, which makes it somewhat unique among food distribution centers.
Virginia Sabía, the pantry’s fundraising director, expressed gratitude for the community’s support. “It has really, without question, taken a village, an army, and sometimes a miracle to make this happen,” she said. “Every person that has been involved, hundreds of people, our thanks, our love, our gratitude goes out to all of you.”
A gospel mandate in action
In his blessing of the facility, Bishop Bonnici reminded those gathered of the gospel mandate that inspires the pantry’s work. “Jesus told us when he was speaking to a crowd in the gospels, particularly identifying those who would be embraced into God’s kingdom: ‘When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. When I was hungry, you gave me food.’ Those are not words. Those are not part of some political platform. Those are part of the gospel, and that is the gospel mandate that we all are called to embrace every single day of our lives. And each and every one of you, including the student volunteers, each and every one of you present here in this beautiful community, you live that out in a beautiful way. You take those words to heart, and you put them into practice.”
Father Bob Norris, pastor of OLMC, explained the origins of the pantry’s expansion. “When I arrived here, they were talking about what they had done in the past, and it was just a very small operation with a few people that worked on it. We wanted to continue it. And it was all in that little room right back there. And they would say, ‘Maybe there’s something more we could do.’ And so we got more volunteers, more food coming in. And then we started to apply to organizations like Feeding Westchester and others. They would give us more food to distribute. And this group, this team of people working on it, is amazing,” he told The Good Newsroom in an interview following the ceremony.
Sabía provided context for the expansion, explaining how the pandemic dramatically increased demand. “We grew steadily over the years to about 65 families through 2019. And then the pandemic hit in 2020. On distribution day, we had doubled the clients in March of 2020 that we normally had. During that period of time, our numbers went as high as 250, 300 families. We now needed storage for five times as many people. We have this amazing, beautiful, climate-controlled space. We’re anticipating 180 to 185 families for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so our numbers are again going up.”
The food pantry is part of a larger pastoral center initiative at OLMC. Vera Galeas, executive director for the new pastoral center, explained how the pantry fits into the parish’s broader mission to serve the community. “Eighty-five to 90 percent of our families are Latinos and minorities. Some of them live three or four families per apartment, and the need is great,” she said. “Watching from that point of view and observing the food pantry, some of our families didn’t even know they could apply for assistance from the pantry. And so now we’re working together. On Saturdays and Sundays, we have at least 130 people here, including children, parents, and ESL students. It’s going to be a great place for the community in general.”
The new storage facility was made possible with major donations and ongoing partnerships with the Archdiocese of New York, Catholic Charities, Feeding Westchester, the Giving Circle, and ShopRite of Elmsford and Greenburgh, and through grants from Archbishop Stepinac High School, Westchester County Department of Planning, and Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.