The Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless Inc. will merge with The Food Bank for Westchester to form the county”™s largest emergency food distributor and provider of services addressing hunger, Food Bank officials announced.
An agreement merging the nonprofit organizations will be signed at a Friday ceremony at Food Bank for Westchester headquarters in Elmsford. A Food Bank spokesman said the coalition, based in White Plains, will be incorporated into the Elmsford volunteer agency, which distributes about 7.2 million pounds of food each year to an estimated 200,000 Westchester residents.
Ellen Lynch, executive director of the Food Bank for Westchester, and Jeanne Blum, executive director of the Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless, will join in the signing.
Formed in 1988, the coalition consists of 141 food providers throughout the county directly serving residents, including 72 food pantries, 38 soup kitchens and 31 shelters, according to the coalition website.
The Food Bank for Westchester also was founded in 1988. It acquires, stores and distributes food to more than 265 hunger relief programs throughout the county, including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior facilities and child care centers, according to its website. The organization over its 27-year history has distributed more than 100 million pounds of food in the county.
