United Way Announces $500,000 in Grants Awarded

WHITE PLAINS, NY (March 15, 2021) United Way of Westchester and Putnam announced that 30 local nonprofits were collectively awarded $500,000 from Phase 38 of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. These grants are the fourth round of funding administered by United Way, which has cumulatively distributed $1.7 million in grants since the start of the COVID-19 public health crisis in March 2020.

“The economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis has devastated individuals and families that were already struggling to make ends meet,” said Tom Gabriel, president and CEO of United Way of Westchester and Putnam. “These funds support the food pantries and soup kitchens that are feeding people and the eviction prevention programs that are keeping people in their homes.”

The Emergency Food and Shelter Program is a federally funded program administered by United Way that was created in 1983 to supplement and expand local social service agencies, both nonprofit and governmental, to help people with economic emergencies. Local boards convened in Westchester and Putnam counties considered the highest needs and best use of funds when selecting the local nonprofits recipients of emergency food and shelter funding.

“We are thrilled and especially appreciative of this grant during these challenging times,” said Judy Watson, CEO of the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Inc., which runs the Greenburgh Food Pantry. “Located at our Greenburgh Health Center, the food pantry distributes packaged food and fresh produce to our patients. We never turn away anyone who comes to us in need. Therefore, the food pantry also serves residents of the local community who are not yet patients of GHC. We simply ask that they register as patients, and they are often glad to do so.”

The nonprofits awarded are:

(914) Cares

Bethesda Baptist Church of New Rochelle Food Pantry

Brewster Cares

The Bridge Fund of New York, Inc.

Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of New York

Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill, Inc.

CHOICE of NY

Feeding Westchester, Inc.

Food Bank of the Hudson Valley

Friends of Karen

Giving Tree Global, Inc.