Community Table Partnership Program Awards 17 Grants to Nonprofits serving 21 Communities
Recognizing that the restaurant industry is both a significant economic driver and a tool to address hunger locally, Westchester County has established an innovative program to help local restaurants recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Community Table Partnership enables local Chambers of Commerce or non-profit agencies to apply for grants to help families struggling with food insecurity, while supporting the local restaurant industry. The County has awarded nearly $600,000 in grants to 17 different organizations that serve 21 communities across Westchester.
Latimer said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted residents’ access to good nutritious food, and threatened the stability of our local restaurant industry. With the help of the Community Table Partnership Program, our most vulnerable families will be connected with the services and resources that they need through a true community, nonprofit, local business partnership.”
The Rivertowns Chamber Board Member Michelle Adams said: “Westchester County Government is showing meaningful, urgently needed leadership. The Community Table Partnership Grant is a forward-thinking solution that will bring together communities, keep people employed, and tackle unprecedented need. Neighborhoods understand the plummeting values that follow closed restaurants, shuttered windows, and high unemployment. The Rivertowns Chamber of Commerce is looking forward to administering this initiative to feed our vulnerable neighbors and to drive economic recovery in the villages of Ardsley, Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington.”
Owner and Operator of Horsefeathers in Tarrytown Julia McCue said: “Having worked throughout the pandemic to provide meals to food insecure families, I just want to say thank you for seeing the need both within the restaurant industry, as well as our local communities. This program is special because not only does it help to sustain our local restaurants, but it also helps to bring people within our communities together. To be able to work with my local organization, The Tarrytown Rotary Club, and see first-hand the need in our community being fulfilled, has been rewarding in and of itself. The Community Table Program will allow us to continue to utilize our restaurants to care for our neighbors while also forming relationships that will last far beyond Covid-19.”
- Food vouchers that can be redeemed at participating restaurants, to be distributed to households impacted by COVID-19.
- Distribution of cooked meals to households or individuals facing food insecurity, to be picked up or delivered to households impacted by COVID-19.
The not-for-profits who have been awarded grants include:
- Tarrytown Rotary Club
- The Rivertowns Chamber
- Peekskill Rotary Club
- Caritas of Port Chester
- New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce
- Friends of Theodore Young Community Center
- Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce
- Mexican American Small Business Association
- YWCA
- El Centro Hispano
- Community Resource Center
- Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce
- Gullotta House
- Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce