Food Drive Helps ‘Fill the Gap’

By BILL BELLEN
COOPERSTOWN

On Saturday, November 15, CooperstownOneonta Indivisible and the Otsego County Democratic Committee joined forces to co-sponsor a “Fill the Gap” food drive. Running from noon to 3 p.m., this event was held in the parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown to benefit the Cooperstown Food Pantry. In an informational letter sent out by the OCDC via e-mail, organizers asked donors to bring food, hygienic products or cash donations to support the effort.

Virginia Kennedy, group leader of CooperstownOneonta Indivisible, explained, “Food banks, as you know, have been under pressure because of all kinds of things, not just the SNAP funding, which is why we’ve been paying attention to making sure every time we have a protest we have a food drive—because it’s a great opportunity when all those people are coming together to help the food pantries.”

Kennedy went on to elaborate on her concerns regarding federal cuts to grants and service programs that assist people with lower incomes in being able to sustainably access food. She also levied criticisms at the $300 million construction of the new White House ballroom when the money could have been used to supplement funding for food-insecure families. President Donald Trump, however, has maintained that the multi-million-dollar project will be paid by private donations and not by taxpayers.

“Even without the SNAP disruptions, it’s coming into the winter season in a rural county with a tremendous amount of poverty, especially in the working populations,” wrote Caitlin Ogden, OCDC chair. “Anything we can do to help make sure our neighbors are fed is a worthy cause. The Cooperstown Food Pantry does amazing work, as do all the other food pantries operating all over the county.”

The drive itself went very well, with members of both co-sponsoring organizations being present to run and manage the event. Five hundred two pounds of food were collected, along with $200.00 in cash donations. Both Kennedy and Ogden expressed their gratitude for the success of the drive, speaking to just how helpful this communal effort would be in picking up the slack of faltering SNAP benefits.

“Especially [during] the holidays…community organizations need to be supporting each other in the community and CooperstownOneonta Indivisible, we focus on making sure that our democracy is fair and equitable,” Kennedy said. “A big way to do that is to make sure that our communities can thrive [and] be sustainable. If people are worried about starving, they’re not voting. They don’t have time to listen to what the best policy is. They just need to find food. So we really don’t want people in our own communities to feel that kind of desperation.”

With this success behind them, CooperstownOneonta Indivisible and the OCDC are co-sponsoring a second food drive in December, though the date and location of this event is still to be determined. For further information, visit https://cooperstownoneontaindivisible.org/.

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