In March of 1998 the Pittsford Clergy Association opened a food cupboard in the Old Pickle Factory on Grove Street.  Following the pattern of Pittsford Youth Service, created by the churches in the 1970’s and the Elderberry Express, created by the churches in the 1980’s, the Pittsford Food Cupboard is now an independently incorporated agency.  A year of research preceded the opening. Our needs assessment showed that over 100 children in the Pittsford Central School District received free or reduced priced lunches, reflecting a level of financial need, and that four percent of the village lived below the federal poverty level. We also know that folks came to the doors of the churches from a variety of areas. The needs assessment was conducted by Jill Slaterpryce, a graduate student at Roberts Wesleyan, who served as the first Director of the Food Cupboard. In April of 1998 Tom Driscoll became the Director, as Jill’s internship had ended. Initially we served 5 - 10 households a week, serving food and making referrals to agencies that help folks get back on their feet.

 The first eye-opening facts began to emerge: Folks came to us for a variety of needs – disability, dramatic increase in family size, underemployment, ex-spousal failure to pay childcare, denial of food stamps, reduction in hours by employer, and chronic illness. The number of clients soared until we were serving almost 80 households a week by March of 1999. That number of folks put a huge stress on our volunteers and our ability to stock food. We closed for two months to re-image ourselves and start over. 

Eligibility: 
Clients need to be residents of our service area. A client household may
visit the PFC twice a month. Each household will receive 5 days worth of food times the number of people in the household. Each client is interviewed and encouraged to be as economically self-sufficient as possible. Each client must bring proof of residence. Approximately 15% of our clients come from 14534; 10% from 14445; 7% from 14610/14618. The remainder comes from 14607 and 14620. We now serve a very manageable 20-35 households per week. Currently, 15% of our clients live within the Town of Pittsford. 

Food Collection: 
We receive a great deal of food from the generous folks of Pittsford,
through the churches, scouts, Pittsford Central School District, civic organizations, and Adopt-A-Shelfpartners. We also receive food from the regional foodbank, Foodlink. The Pittsford Postal Workers Collection in June of each year is a major source of food. Pittsford Postal Workers Collection sustains the Pittsford Food Cupboard through the summer when our regular collection systems are cut back. Historically, July is a very busy month at the PFC since needy children do not receive free lunches or breakfasts from the schools.

Volunteers: 
Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Pittsford Food Cupboard and do
everything from stocking shelves to interviewing and shopping with the clients, to cleaning and other duties. The Food Cupboard particularly needs drivers to pick up food from Foodlink on Mondays and to pick up food from the Postal drive in June. The Director of the Pittsford Food Cupboard is Melinda Solazzo.

 Thank you for your support of the Pittsford Food Cupboard.