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A Local Church in Syracuse Hosts a Food Giveaway A Local Church in Syracuse Hosts a Food Giveaway

By Jailah Pettis

Bins of food bundles
© 2023 (c) Jailah Pettis

Clients can register ahead of time by coming to our website which is thetablefoodpantry.org

JAILAH PETTIS: Auddie Mastroleo is the Co-Director of The Table Community Food Pantry at Living Word Church.

PETTIS: Twice a month the volunteers you see here gather at the local church to serve hundreds of families each month.

PETTIS: Households receiving SNAP benefits will see a decrease of at least 95 dollars this year.

PETTIS: The food pantry fills in the gaps of missing benefits.

PETTIS: Mastroleo says this organization was created because of the need in Syracuse.

AUDDIE MASTROLEO: “Our Senior Pastor at the time felt it on his heart that there’s such a great need in our community and he just felt led to start a food pantry. Little did we know that a few months later COVID 19 would become what it was, and you know we are still dealing with it and that the need in our community would skyrocket”.

PETTIS: Bundles are packaged, placed in carts and delivered to clients.

PETTIS: “With help provided by the Food Bank of Central New York, this pantry can handle an increased number of clients who are in need of food. Grants make purchasing food items possible for not only the pantry but clients who are in need of bundles”.

ROB PROSSER: “I do mostly the ordering and inventory control. Making sure we have enough of the product on hand for our giveaways every two weeks”.

PETTIS: Any applicant who is interested in participating in the food giveaways can access the registration form on the table food pantry. orgs website or their Facebook page.

PETTIS: In your search bar type in The Table Food Pantry.org.

PETTIS: Select registration form.

PETTIS: Scroll down to 2022-2023 registration.

PETTIS: Fill in the required information including household income.

PETTIS: Select that you have read the above statement.

PETTIS: And click submit.

PETTIS: This initiative has given Living Word Church an opportunity to help those in need due to the increase in clients.

PETTIS: In Syracuse Jailah Pettis, NCC News

SYRACUSE, N.Y.(NCC News) —On March 1, SNAP(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Benefits were decreased. Lawmakers voted in December to not extend benefits. Households who qualified for funds were given emergency allotments in addition to the amount they received. Now that those funds have been lowered, a church in Syracuse found a way to provide for community members. Living Word Church created The Table Community Food Pantry.

If people need food and are low on funds, this is where the Table Community Food Pantry fills in the gaps. The pantry hosted a food giveaway on March 18. Food bundles are prepackaged and even prepared the day of to meet the demand of clients who attend each Saturday. There are volunteers at the pantry who serve hundreds of families each month through this initiative. Food giveaways occur twice a month and there is no limit to how many times a client can participate. Depending on household size, one bundle can serve a family of five.  

“We are seeing that larger families are coming to our pantry, and they are in need of more bundles of food to meet their family’s needs” said Auddie Matsroleo. 

A registration form is required each year for the giveaway and can be obtained through their website or Facebook page. The pantry served 454 families by the end of the day. 

Inventory Coordinator Rob Prosser said, “It’s been a very good venture in outreach from our church to be able to participate in our community and be able to help people.”  

The next giveaway will be held on Saturday April 15 from nine in the morning until 11. Supplies are first come, first serve and while they last.  

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