To the Editor,

Thank you to the community for your support of the New York Mills Area Food Shelf (NYMAFS). We have seen such kindness from the local churches, businesses, students, teen groups and individuals who donated funds or shelf-stable groceries, personal hygiene and cleaning supplies for our neighbors.

We also appreciate our volunteers who show up every month to unload the truck from the North Country Food Bank and help on our monthly distribution day. It takes 60 volunteer hours every month to run the program. We also have a decent building thanks to the New York Mills Lions Club and offer our thanks to the Magnifi team who showed up to give the building a deep cleaning this fall.

Eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) changed on November 1 for low-income families with minor children, individuals between 18 and 64 and veterans (with a short grace period to give people time to reapply and decisions to be communicated back).

Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) eliminated most of its funding for food banks across the country

If you know someone who needs food for dinner tonight, the New York Mills Public Library set up a canned goods shelf in the front hallway of its building where anyone can stop and pick up soup or other options when needed.  Thanks to the good folks who gave to that cause.

It doesn’t matter what our politics are, this is a time of local self-reliance. We are all in this together.

Thank you.

The NYMAFS Board of Directors (Norma Tumberg, Alice Martin, Connie Warner, Jo Rudnitski, Kay Tougas, Karen Oehlschlager, Joyce White, Greg Esala and Teresa Muckala)