Food Pantries Hungry For Summertime Donations

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It's a hungry summer for thousands of suburban New Yorkers.

Food pantries, which so many people depend on to fill out tables, are running low on supplies, and those trying to help are worried, CBS2's Lou Young reported.

"They're not homeless people," said Nina Maraccini of the Harrison Food Pantry. "They're working poor. They're people who just can't afford groceries."

In the summertime, donations are down. The people who tend to donate food and money are on vacation.

"A lot of items that we typically can get, we haven't been able to. They're just not available to us," said Alex Chavarria of the Carver Center Food Pantry.

And the demand is higher now because kids are on summer break from school and are eating more meals at home.

The Food Bank for Westchester delivers supplies to 220 different locations and doesn't have enough.

"We're talking about families that are struggling to make it a day at a time, and if they have to now pay for breakfast and lunch for two or three kids, that's another $40 a week," said Ellen Lynch, chief executive officer of the Food Bank for Westchester.

"We're talking about 200,000 people at risk of hunger in Westchester County, so that's one out of every five people you see when you're walking around," she added.

And it's not just Westchester. Pantries in Bergen County, New Jersey, have issued a call for donations as well.

They all need help now.

"Somewhere along the lines of right after Labor Day it really starts to pick up," said Ernie Monroe of the Food Bank for Westchester.

But that is six weeks away.

For more information, visit:
• Food Bank for Westchester
• Harrison Food Pantry
• Carver City Food Pantry