from the Coalition for Community :
At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, a group of local volunteers representing many organizations and/or municipalities formed the Coalition for Community to coordinate local efforts to respond to community needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the Coalition spoke daily and now they have weekly calls focused on using their shared resources and specialized skills to coordinate services for our vulnerable neighbors. The most demanding, first response issue was hunger.
The need for food assistance has grown 200% in Westchester County since the start of the pandemic. Demand from Mamaroneck and Larchmont residents has lept from 450 bags of non-perishable food and fresh produce biweekly to over 600 bags on a weekly basis. Food insecurity will remain a harsh reality and will continue through the coming weeks and months as local residents who never previously needed support find themselves unemployed and unable to financially support themselves and/or their family.
The Larchmont-Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force, with additional volunteer coordination and support from the Coalition for Community, is ready for this ongoing challenge.
Malcolm Frouman, President of the Hunger Task Force commented, “The mobilization of 70+ volunteers per distribution has been tremendous along with the dramatically increased financial support of the community. But the needs will persist and, as we look ahead to the summer months, we will have to continue to rely on the energy and donations of so many from our community in order to respond to this crisis.”
Tom Murphy, Village of Mamaroneck Mayor, has been supportive from the beginning pledging Village assistance with equipment and logistics in order to make sure that “no resident, no child goes hungry.”
Additional statistics as collected by Coalition members further describe the extent of the need in our community. Since the start of the pandemic,
- ● 2,900+ bags of groceries were handed out at weekly outdoor food distributions
- ● 5,000+ snack bags were distributed by local houses of worship to supplement thebreakfasts and lunches provided to students by the Mamaroneck School District
- ● 1,000+ Stop & Shop gift cards were provided by the LM Hunger Task Force to those with need
While the Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force and the Community Resource Center are leading the efforts on food insecurity, individual Coalition member organizations have assisted in addressing other needs such as medical supply bag distributions and learning support through virtual mentoring.
While the Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force and the Community Resource Center are leading the efforts on food insecurity, individual Coalition member organizations have assisted in addressing other needs such as medical supply bag distributions and learning support through virtual mentoring. All of this work takes place in the larger community context of so many varied critical efforts to provide for a wide range of needs such as meals, cleaning supplies and masks for frontline workers, small business support and so much more.
Organizations that have been participating in the current Coalition for Community calls or have been represented on these calls have included: Coalition for Understanding Racism through Education, Community Resource Center, First Methodist Church, Larchmont Avenue Church, Larchmont Friends of the Family, Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force, Larchmont Temple, Mamaroneck-Larchmont PTA Council, STEM Alliance of Larchmont-Mamaroneck, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, St John’s Episcopal Church, St. John’s Lutheran, St Thomas Episcopal Church, Washingtonville Housing Alliance, the Village of Mamaroneck, the Town of Mamaroneck and the Village of Larchmont.
