'Stuff A Bus' Food Drive Helps Westchester Families

OSSINING, NY — A collaborative food drive in Westchester County last month collected 10,291 pounds of food from generous grocery shoppers and ended with volunteers stuffing a Bee-Line bus full of food for needy neighbors.

There's been a growing issue of food insecurity in Westchester since the start of the pandemic in March, and this was one of the efforts to combat it. Officials at Feeding Westchester said their network of agency partners and distribution programs throughout the county are serving more than 300,000 people experiencing hunger each month — more than twice as many as they served before the coronavirus outbreak started.

The stuff-the-bus project was coordinated by Feeding Westchester, Westchester’s SMART Commute Program and Stop & Shop supermarkets.

Donation bins were on site at all 14 Stop & Shop locations throughout Westchester County for one week.

The program concluded with “stuff the bus” events at the Ossining Stop & Shop Oct. 29 and at the Yonkers Stop & Shop Oct. 30.

The drive collected 8,575 meals for neighbors in need, organizers said.