Food distributions continue to see demand with some waiting hours in bitter cold

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 January 2024 at 10:36 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Chris Forrester, a volunteer at this morning’s food distribution in Albion in the Platt Street municipal parking lot, carries a chicken to a car with two senior citizens.

Forrester said she has been volunteering at the monthly distributions for about a year. She tries to be high energy in greeting the people.

“Everyone deserves a smile,” she said.

Foodlink brought a truck of food from Rochester. Foodlink also does distributions at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds in Knowlesville and in Lyndonville at the Presbyterian Church.

The distribution started at about 9 a.m. but people were in the parking lot for hours before that with the first there at 5 a.m., said Katrina Chaffee, director of Community Service and Reporting at Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.

Community Action runs the distribution in Albion, and Chaffee said there has been a big increase in people seeking food with prices rising and people feeling a strain financially. About 150 vehicles typically are there for the distributions, and some vehicles include more than one family.

Ernie Gursslin, a maintenance worker for Community Action, gets boxes ready at the distribution. It was 20 degrees at the start of the distribution.

Today the boxes included macaroni and cheese, tomatillos, grapefruit, bags of Honeycrisp apples, potatoes, onions, cabbage, rolls and chicken. Chaffee said the value of the food is about $100.

Ricky Standish, a Community Action employee, opens up boxes with frozen chickens.

The distributions are funded by the state and will continue until at least June. The distributions started during the Covid pandemic in the spring 2020.

The schedule for the upcoming distributions in Albion at 165 South Platt St. includes:

Monday, January 22 at 9 a.m.
Monday, February 12 at 9 a.m.
Monday, March 11 at 9 a.m.
Monday, April 8 at 9 a.m.
Monday, May 13 at 9 a.m.
Monday, June 10 at 9 a.m.

The schedule at the Lyndonville Presbyterian Church, 107 North Main St., includes:

Friday, February 16 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, March 1 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, March 15 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, April 5 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, April 19 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, May 3 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, May 17 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, June 7 at 9:30 a.m.

The Orleans Cornell Cooperative Extension also hosts a distribution at the fairgrounds, 12690 State Route 31, Albion, NY.

The next one will be Monday, February 5, beginning at 10 a.m.

The Albion and Lyndonville distributions don’t require registrations, but the Extension strongly encourages that. Those who preregister will be assigned timeslots for pickup (12-12:30, 12:30-1, 1-1:30, 1:30-2). Preregister at 585-798-4265.

Elaine Kovaleski (left), age 86, has been volunteering at the distributions in Albion for about a year. She sorts the food and tries to spread them out evenly in about 150 different boxes.

“It’s amazing how many people need food,” she said.

Anyone interested in volunteering at the Albion distribution can call Community Action at (585) 589-5605.