News
July 27, 2016Partners to Hold Albany City-Wide Food Drive
In recognition of continued and growing community need, The City of Albany, The Food Pantries for the Capital District, and KeyBank announce a collaborative City-wide food drive beginning July 22 and running through August 5.
The Food Pantries conducted their first food drive in conjunction with the City of Albany in 1980 and have since worked together in a public/private partnership to combat hunger. This initiative continues that partnership. Through food drives like this, The Food Pantries are able to help distribute 932,000 meals to families in the City of Albany annually.
Healthy, nonperishable food items can be dropped off at the following Albany locations:
Albany City Hall
24 Eagle Street (Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm)
Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center
25 Quackenbush Square (M-F 9am-4pm, Sat 10am-3pm, Sun 11am-3pm)
Albany Police Departments
165 Henry Johnson Boulevard
536 Western Avenue
126 Arch Street
Alive at Five Concert Series
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
125 Eagle Street
Downtown Business Improvement District (BID)
21 Lodge St, Floor 1 (M-F 8:30am-5pm)
Honest Weight Food Co-op
100 Watervliet Avenue (Open 7 days a week from 8am-10pm)
Key Bank
All 11 City of Albany locations (M-F 9am-4pm)
St. Francis of Assisi
391 Delaware Avenue (M-F 9am-3pm)
The Central Avenue Business Improvement District
176 Central Avenue (M-F 8am-4pm)
The Food Pantries for the Capital District
32 Essex Street (M-F 8am-4pm)
Cash donations will also be accepted at The Food Pantries’ office and Alive at Five concert events. One dollar can provide up to 6.25 pounds of food to the hungry in Albany. $10 can provide food for up to 52 meals! Additionally, a food drive continues through the rest of the Alive at Five concert series.
“We know that the need for food increases in the summer when school is out, and we are fortunate to have a partner like The Food Pantries help us meet that need,” said Albany Mayor Kathy M. Sheehan. “We are also fortunate to have generous residents willing to donate food and with more than 20 locations as drop-off points, it’s easy to make a difference for hungry families in our community.”
“The timing of this city-wide food drive couldn’t be better. As schools are closed for summer, that means additional burden on our hungry neighbors to provide meals for their children,” said Natasha Pernicka, executive director for The Food Pantries. “On any given day, more than 900 children are fed because their parents were able to access food from a food pantry. As our coalition of food pantries is currently maintaining the highest service levels of our 37 year history, we are thankful for this partnership with the City of Albany, KeyBank, and the community to work together to keep our local food pantries’ shelves stocked during this great time of need.”
“A common characteristic of strong communities is the willingness of its citizens to support and care for neighbors through unfortunate times,” said Ruth Mahoney, president, Capital Region Market, KeyBank. “This is why we are proud to join the Food Pantries and City of Albany in an effort to fight hunger by collecting healthy, non-perishable food. Not only do we hope to feed the hungry, but we also hope to provide them with the resources they need to realize a brighter future.”
