Feeding Westchester honors nonprofit after $1 million fundraising effort
The Giving Circle of Lower Westchester has given out over $1 million in grants to fight food insecurity in the county
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A local nonprofit that raises money to fight food insecurity was honored in Elmsford by Westchester's leading hunger relief organization.
The Giving Circle of Lower Westchester "received their flowers" on Thursday. Founder Eric Nodiff explained what the group does.
"The Giving Circle is a community of people, friends and family, who donate money which goes towards our mission of fighting hunger," Nodiff said.
Their hard work was celebrated at Feeding Westchester because they just hit a major fundraising milestone.
"We actually hit the $1 million mark today. We raised the funds over the last year, but today we made a grant of $125,000 to Feeding Westchester and their member organizations," Nodiff said.
Tami Wilson, the chief operating officer of Feeding Westchester, said the donation has provided around 2 million meals to the community.
"I don't think they knew how much impact they would have. It's not just about the dollar, it's about how many people they touched throughout the county," Wilson said.
Some of Feeding Westchester's partners, like the Carver Center run by Anne Bradner, said the support comes at a critical time.
"There are more people in Port Chester that are hungry than just used to be true, so the Carver Center has expanded our services to meet the demand. We've grown over 10 times and last year distributed 700,000 pounds of food to people in our community," Bradner said.
Nodiff explained where this need could be coming from.
"The law reduces total federal SNAP benefits by approximately $186 billion over the next decade," Nodiff said.
Despite this challenge, Paul Warhit, the president of the local Giving Circle chapter, reiterated his commitment to the community they serve.
"In order to make your children's lives better, you need to be able to feed them. Families are working very hard and it's our obligation to bridge that gap," Warhit said.
