In the Spring of 2017, Nani Bautochka and Kathy Weiss, put their heads and hearts together and so began what is now called the NPUMC Supplemental Food Program.
The program began as a summer food program for families whose children received free or reduced cost lunch and/or breakfast during the school year. That first summer, we worked with Family of New Paltz. We bought food, packed it into bags and gave it to those in need. In 2017, 55 bags of food were given out in July and August.
Gradually, in response to community need, the program evolves. In the summer of 2019, we provided 15 bags of food each week to the families of children at the Agricultural Business Child Development Center (ABCD) and 10 bags of food each month to senior citizens at Meadowbrook, a housing complex for seniors with limited income. We realized a year round food supplement was needed by these families and households. So, we continued providing food; the frequency and content is in response to the need.
We continue to provide food to the 10 senior citizen households at Meadowbrook. We try to have the program respond to the need. Currently, we shop and provide supplemental food to the seniors twice a month. We provide 20 bags of food to the ABCD Center. We continue to communicate with community groups to be responsive to the changing needs in New Paltz. While, this program changes in response to community need, what we do remains the same. We shop, pack food into bags and arrange for it to get to those who need it.
This is a mission of our church. The program is supported by you. Each year, church folks, friends and community groups donate money to the church and earmark it for the Supplemental Food Program. Each bag of supplemental food that we provide costs between $30.00 and $35.00, and we spend between $11,000 to $12,000 a year to meet these food needs. We have received support from our church McKnight Trust and endowment funds. In addition, we apply for grants. This became important as we transitioned from a 2 month summer program to a year round 12 month a year program.
We want to continue to be responsive to the New Paltz community. We are excited to see how this mission continues to evolve.
Read the 2020 Grant Proposal for background and goals of the program, and details of our financial need.
Read the 2019 Charge Conference Report for more history and details from that year.
