Food distribution shifts to different site in Albion to ease traffic congestion

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Employees from the Iroquois Job Corps in Shelby teamed this morning with staff and volunteers at Community Action of Genesee & Orleans for a pop-up food distribution.

The distribution is at a new location starting today. Instead of the Main Street Thrift Store parking lot on Main Street, the distribution will be at 165 Platt Street in the municipal parking lot that serves CRFS and is next to Dubby’s Tailgate. It is across the street from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Katrina Chaffee, director of Community Services and Reporting, puts packages of dates in a box. About 200 vehicles passed through the distribution with many starting to line up at 6:30 in the morning.

Organizers ask that people not start to line up before 7:30 a.m. to help with traffic issues.

At the Main Street location, the cars and trucks backed up in the side streets and even onto to Main Street, making it difficult for school buses and other vehicles.

At the municipal lot, the vehicles were able to be parked in rows, off the village streets.

Ernest Gursslin unpacks boxes of dates and also a frozen pasta meal. Gursslin is a volunteer with Community Action.

The food is delivered by Foodlink and is available for free to residents.

The dates for the distribution in Albion for the rest of the year include July 25, Aug. 8, Sept.12, Oct. 17, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.

The Lyndonville Presbyterian Church and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orleans County also run food distributions.

Cameron Richardson helps organize bags of onions and potatoes.