City of Newburgh residents and those from the greater Newburgh area who are in need of food and supplies are all welcome to the Deacon Jack Seymour Food Pantry.

The pantry, which currently operates out of the Sacred Heart School gymnasium on Ann Street, is run by Newburgh residents Paul and Linda Zalanowski, who have been volunteering for the past 15 years.

“When we first joined, we did pick up,” Linda said. “We picked up from different grocery stores and brought the food. ”

During the last two and half years, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses and organizations to shut down. The pantry however continued to remain open, serving the public. “We never shut down during the pandemic. We were distributing food every weekend,” Paul said.

According to Paul, about 90 volunteers from the area give their time to assist with this pantry. Volunteers range in ages from 17 all the way to 98.

“I think everybody was very grateful that we were able to stay open [during the pandemic],” Linda said. “We, Paul and I, were extremely grateful to all the volunteers that came and helped out.”

According to Paul, the food pantry was first founded in 1997. It was established by Deacon Jack Seymour.

Prior to the name it is known by today, the pantry first operated under the name St. Francis Food Pantry.

In the beginning of the pantry, according to Paul, the pantry only served five local families in the immediate Newburgh area. As the years went on, the need for service, food and other necessities grew even more for the pantry.

As of today, the pantry is known as the Deacon Jack Seymour Food Pantry. The pantry website states that the food pantry was dedicated to Deacon Jack Seymour on April 10, 2017.

In order to track and manage those who do take food and other items, people are given a card with their name and birthday which is recorded by Linda, Paul or other volunteers.
Donated foods available to the community include cereal, rice, pasta, chicken, beef, fish, canned goods, fruits and vegetables according to Paul and Linda.

Community members that arrive and go through the pantry are also given a ticket. This ticket identifies the number of family members. Various volunteers at the stations allow individuals to collect a certain number of items depending upon the number of people in the family.

Families are also asked to visit the pantry once a weekend so as to make sure that all are served.

Bags of food and supplies are also prepared by the pantry for the homeless here in the area and also those who are awaiting housing that are staying at the Havarest Motel in Newburgh.

The pantry also partners and assists with other local programs for the community. For the past four years, the pantry has been partnered with the Bombas Sock Giving Team who provide socks for donation. The pantry recently received 3,000 pairs of donated socks that were given out to residents during a weekend.

The pantry also assists with the Backpack Program with the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, the Orange County Executive Office and the Newburgh Enlarged City School District. This program supplies food for food insecure families in the district.

With the pantry, the next step, according to Paul, is to construct a new pantry. The new site is proposed to be built on the church properties on Washington Street. There are site plans for the proposed project but they are awaiting approval. Paul said he hopes to present the project before appropriate parties within the next two months.

The pantry’s hours of operation are on Friday’s from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturday’s from 9 a.m. to noon.