CORNWALL-on-HUDSON- It is the season of giving, but it is also a painful form of thankfulness during a pandemic that has shuttered national and regional economies – and left many needing food.
“There is an absolute greater need for food in the Hudson Valley this year,” said Molly Nicol, the interim director of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
As the pandemic pushes through with a second deadly wave, Nicol expects 2021 to still be a difficult year for many.
“We are planning for the need remaining high through 2021,” she said. “In our minds, even after the vaccine comes out and everyone gets vaccinated, the economic impact of this crisis will continue for at least another six months to a year.”
The food bank serves Ulster, Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan, Rockland and Orange counties, and it has distributed 53 percent more food this year compared to last year. And children have more need, with a 66 percent hike in the food bank’s backpack program to serve them.
A short drive north of this scenic village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, there have been mass distributions at the armory in Newburgh that serve 600-700 families per week.
