Hillside Food Outreach Opens in Kent

Eric Gross Kathy Purdy (right) accepts a donation of dog food at the Hillside Food Outreach Putnam facility that opened last week at the Kent Center. A non-profit organization providing home-delivered groceries to those in need across Putnam County has opened its new headquarters in Kent.

Hillside Food Outreach serves families that do not have access to food pantries due to a lack of transportation or a void in a neighborhood pantry.

Last week Kathy Purdy of Carmel, executive director of Hillside Food Outreach, invited the Courier to the new facility, located in a storefront at the Kent Center Shopping Center off Route 52.

Purdy decided to expand her agency’s services from Westchester into Putnam because “over the years we have found that more and more people are falling through the cracks. People can’t get to their local food pantry. Putnam is a rural county. Public transportation is minimal. Besides, it’s difficult for the frail and elderly and moms with young children to carry bags of groceries.”

Hillside’s main warehouse is located in Thornwood, where 750 families are served. The new Putnam site reaches about 60 families, a number which Purdy forecast will begin to grow now that the agency has become locally visible.

The site in Kent contains a freezer allowing for staff to deliver more than staple groceries to clients. Purdy said chicken and turkey were provided this month, with plans to expand the bill of fare to include dairy products, including cheese and margarine, in the future.

Food is purchased by Hillside Outreach. Purdy said in Westchester, grocery bills range between $8,000 and $12,000 each month. In Putnam, bills are starting out at from $1,000 to $2,000 monthly.

Staple groceries are purchased through food banks. The organization delivers a diabetic bag that is bought directly from Shop-Rite as well as infant formula. Dairy products come from Marcus Dairy in Danbury.

Hillside Outreach also conducts food drives and seeks grants to help offset its costs. Fundraising is year round. Each January, former New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams performs a benefit concert for the organization and next month Hillside is sponsoring a “Dancing with the Stars” gala featuring Putnam Legislators Mary Ellen Odell of Carmel and Vincent Tamagna of Cold Spring. Eleven “stars” from the tri-state area will join the Putnam pair in the competition scheduled for Oct. 24 at the Performing Arts Center at SUNY Purchase.

Purdy asked the public to assist her organization by dropping off items at the new facility in Kent. “A can of tuna fish, jar of peanut butter, box of macaroni and cheese, or tin of crackers is always welcome, and can be placed on our shopping shelves so drivers can bring them directly to families,” she said.

Volunteers are also being sought to assist the group with its distribution of food products. Interested parties can call Purdy at 914-747-0095.

During our visit last week, Andrea Tiersch of Carmel stopped by. The young woman had some dog food that had been around the house. Purdy accepted the donation because a client has a dog in need of food. “We serve everyone whenever we can,” she said.

Purdy conceived the Hillside Food Outreach in honor of her late grandmother: “Grandma should have had sufficient resources to live comfortably, but she didn’t. I investigated and learned that in the senior citizens building where she was living at the time my grandmother was sharing with her neighbors who couldn’t make ends meet. I didn’t want her to bear the burden so I helped by getting food to assist those she was feeding. Once people found out what I was doing, the agency was born and has grown ever since.”

Purdy’s grandmother, Mary Long, who resided in Peekskill, passed away last March at the age of 97. “It was her love for her fellow man that instilled in me the desire to help others,” she said.