Grocery Stores to Partner with CAP for Hunger Awareness Day

For hundreds of families around Putnam County and beyond, scarcity of food is not limited to the holiday months.

Advocates of hunger awareness are hoping folks will remember that on March 15—Hunger Awareness Day—and pick up a few extra cans of soup to donate to the cause.  Director Judy Callahan has recently been working with organizers at area food pantries and local store managers to set up collection stations.

"Everyone's been very receptive; it's kind of a community effort," Callahan said, adding that art students at are creating posters to spread the word. "During the holidays, giving back and helping others is absolutely in the forefront of everyone's minds. This time of year, no one is going to run a food drive. This is a way to bring it [awareness] back."

Boxes will be out at stores across Putnam that day. In Brewster and Southeast, , and  are participating. Organizers are asking that folks contribute non-perishables. The items collected at those three stores will be distributed between the and the CAP pantry.

"We always try to help out in the community," Tighe Rubinstein, store manager at DeCicco's, said. "We're happy to do it."

The Hunger Action Network of New York State is coordinating the Awareness Day. The organization, which has been in existence for about 20 years, provides a link to a set of "Hunger Facts" on its website. One bulletpoint describes how many New York residents turn to emergency food assistance each year: about 2.3 million.

"Hunger is more than just that empty feeling in your stomach," Callahan said. "It’s a lack of adequate food, it’s a lack of adequate nutrition or lack of access to nutritious food."