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PEEKSKILL, N.Y. It was a bittersweet night for volunteers at St. Peter's Episcopal Church Thursday as they celebrated their final free monthly meal for residents.
Dozens of volunteers rushed to prepare food before doors opened to the public. Mission and Outreach Committee Chairperson Doryl Wolfe said after three years there simply wasn't enough attendance to justify the food and time needed to prepare it.
"We've provided free food for anyone who wants it for the past three years but the numbers have fallen," Wolfe said. "When we cook all this food and 12 or 13 people show up then we're wasting time. I've been up since early this morning cooking rice and they've been here since early this morning cooking the turkey, vegetables and corn bread."
Wolfe said the church enjoyed cooking for the public and would likely still hold meals on holidays and other special occasions in the future. Many of those who attended the dinner come from the city's sizable Hispanic migrant worker population, many of whom bring their families for a hot, home cooked meal.
Committee member Ellie Moshier said the dinners filled a need when the church started serving them. "When we started three years ago the community was in bad shape," Moshier said. "There were a lot of homeless people and they didn't have a lot of resources, so we saw a need for this. We've had 80 to 100 people and the average was about 60 meals. But in the last couple of months we've noticed it's been dropping off."
One reason could be that The Salvation Army now provides a hot meals in Westchester with help from area churches, she said. However on this particular night, she said there was an unusually large turnout at St. Peter's, so much so that the church had to turn away some people who came late.
"I think it's partly in anticipation of the guy with the red suit and the presents," explained St. Peter's Rev. Carlye Hughes. She said the church had gathered presents to be given to children in attendance by a naturally-bearded local Santa and apparently word had gotten around.
The Third Thursday dinners started three years ago right before the market crashed, according to Hughes, as a way to help needy residents hold out until the end of the month. But Hughes said that the need for such meals has been reduced as other organizations have come forward.
"At this stage in the game there are a lot of programs including Fred's Pantry that operates here on Saturdays, so there's less of a pressing need," she said.
Hughes added that Fred's Pantry, which is run on Saturday mornings at the church in cooperation with Caring For The Homeless of Peekskill, continues to grow in the number of diverse area residents it serves. The 115 to 140 families served each week vary greatly, she said, and reflect the long repercussions of the worldwide recession.
"The people you see in here on Saturday mornings are not who you think you would see," Hughes said. "It's your neighbor. Everyone has a vision of what hunger looks like but I always say look in the mirror and that's what it looks like."
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