Welcome
NEW LOCATION!
2841 Culver Road
Rochester, NY 14622
(585) 336-9107
Picking up your items...
When you arrive at ICC at your scheduled food pickup
time, please drive into the parking lot and follow the arrows, directing
you to the side door pickup area at our building. We will bring your items to your car.
Thank you for your cooperation.
All volunteers are fully vaccinated and wear a mask for the health and safety of everyone.
Irondequoit Community Cupboard, Inc.
The Irondequoit Community Cupboard, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization designed to meet a variety of needs for families and individuals in the Town of Irondequoit, NY.
Mission Statement
“To provide emergency assistance to Irondequoit residents with dignity, kindness and without prejudice.”
Vision
"To raise awareness of the presence and impact of hunger and poverty in our
community. We envision a community where all people share resources to ensure
that residents’ basic needs are met in times of limited resources.
We advocate for and reach out to those in need and try to influence public
policy so that every person in our community has the necessary support and
resources to enhance nutrition, health and welfare.”
United Way
Remember us at United Way giving time we are designee #2466
If you are in need of
assistance, please call (585) 336-9107.
(no appointments are made online)
Distribution Hours (BY
APPOINTMENT ONLY)
Tuesday & Saturday from 9:30AM - 11:00AM.
Office Hours (BY PHONE ONLY)
Monday & Wednesday 9:00AM - 4:00PM
Fridays 9:00AM-12:00PM
"Letter from the President"
(February 2024)
Dear Friends,
I hope that you are enjoying the beautiful spring like weather we
are having right now, I know that I am!!
As you know, our holidays were quite busy this year. We are seeing
more and more people in our community than ever before (minus the
beginning of Covid) We have seen an uptick in seniors, single
parents, people from Ukraine, Turkey, and Afghanistan. Since we
receive grants, we need to record the number of people we serve and
how many meals we provide monthly. I was even surprised to learn
that we have provided enough food for 205,401 meals since January of
2022!! With around 220 weekend backpacks that we provide during the
school year, we have supplied enough food for 41,803 meals: not
including snacks or beverages.
At the end of the month, I am having surgery so I am trying to get
everything settled as best I can in advance. That being said, I am
now filling in the slots for volunteers for the months April, May
and June. If you are a regular or new volunteer, PLEASE email me the
dates that you CANNOT work for those months.
There are a few things I would like to discuss with all of you. I am
always learning new things and even though I have been doing this
for almost 30 years I still discover new things. Last month I put on
our Top 10 list that we needed pet food. We received some very large
bags of both dog and cat food with the expiration date of 2020 and
2022. While I know that expiration and best by dates are completely
different and I honestly thought that pet food, if unopened could
last for many years; this is not the case. Dry pet food lasts only
12-18 months beyond the expiration date and wet pet food lasts 2
years. Please be mindful of that both for your pets and the
donations that you make to ICC.
In addition, we know that many of you donate items when you are
cleaning out cabinets and cupboards. Please be mindful of items that
a) are already open and b) items that are WELL beyond the best by
dates. Items with high acid like tomato sauce for example only have
a shelf life of 12-18 months beyond the best by date. We would not
give anyone something that we would not eat ourselves. We appreciate
your generosity and kindness, but we cannot distribute these items.
As you can see from my volunteer sign up list, we are gearing up for
spring already. This means we will not only need volunteers for our
amazing vegetable garden but also some spring-cleaning landscaping
at our new building. If you have a green thumb and would like to
volunteer your services and time, please let me know in the next
couple of months.
We often get asked how often someone can come to ICC and receive
food, the answer is every 30 days.
We often get asked if we only distribute nonperishable items. The
answer is no. We provide fresh produce year-round, eggs, cheese, a
choice of ground beef or chicken, a choice of white or wheat bread,
and items donated from Wegmans that are at their serve by date.
We get asked why people don’t just use their SNAP benefits to buy
these items. They do. Most households do not receive enough food to
last a month. SNAP does not cover “taxable” items like soap, toilet
paper, toothpaste, feminine hygiene, cleaning supplies and even pet
food. In addition, it does cost more to eat healthy and if you don’t
have transportation to get to places like a grocery store or the
public market, it is difficult to get these items on your own. Go
watch “A Place at the Table” a documentary about food insecurity and
getting food in a food desert. The late Tom Ferraro and I were asked
to sit on a Q&A panel after the documentary premiered in Rochester.
I think you will find this very enlightening.
As always, thank you for your continued support; we are so
gratefully appreciative.
Thank you to the following:
Those who donate at the Irondequoit Library, the Ridge Culver Fire
Dept and the Town Hall
Don and Nancy Story
Durand Senior Housing
Barbara Mittleman/UNITHER Pharma
Cheryl Soanes
Noreen Rossi
Kath and Tony Proietti/Two Ton Tony’s
Mike Manning
Herm Thein
Lynn Marie Wozniak
West Irondequoit Interact Club
Helendale Rd School
Transfiguration Lutheran Church
Sincerely,
Debbie Evans, Founder and
Executive Director
(585)336-9107
iccdebbieevans@gmail.com
Our amazing and talented, hardworking Board of Directors
Lisa Loeser, Chairperson
MaryJo Toepfer, Vice Chairperson
John Kane, Treasurer
Cherie Evans, Secretary
Diane Zaccarine, Corresponding Secretary
Mary Bragg, Board Member
Rachel DeBlieck, Board Member
John Villeneuve, Board Member
WAYS TO DONATE
* Go to our website at www.irondequoitcommunitycupboard.org and click on
our Paypal link or use the QR code from your Smartphone.
* Look at our Top 10 list always listed on our Facebook page or our
website and choose an item to purchase for us
* Donate food items and drop them off at any of our drop-off sites
* Donate gift cards for those who come to us after all of our deadlines have passed.
* Check donations can be made payable to ICC c/o Debbie Evans
PO Box 17834 Rochester, NY 14617