Letter from Bill Waller

Pantry Could Use More Than Food

The Cooperstown Food Pantry provides more than food to meet the needs of Otsego County residents. Certainly distributing more than 20,000 pounds of food to over 600 people a month is working toward the food pantry’s mission of relieving nutritional insufficiency. But there is another need—that of personal care items—which goes largely unnoticed, particularly women’s sanitary items. Donations of toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and other personal care items come periodically, but there is a scarcity of women’s feminine care products.

While the food pantry can multiply donated dollars by 10 when purchasing food from the Regional Food Bank, as part of Feeding America, women’s personal items are purchased at list price from local stores. This impacts the budget for maintaining the flow of food and sustaining the operations of the organization.

The need for women’s items may not immediately come to mind when thinking of nutritional insufficiency, but if food is needed because of family budget shortfalls, then other non-food, but essential, items often fall by the wayside. The Cooperstown Food Pantry tries to fill this gap to the best of its ability, but many times runs short of supplies.

CFP accepts gifts of food but also would accept personal care items, particularly women’s sanitary products. Contact the food pantry at (607) 547-8902 for more information or to donate.

Bill Waller
Cooperstown