2021 Cambridge Guide

Cambridge profiles
Food aid ongoing in Cambridge
Affiliated with the Regional Food
Bank of Northeastern New York,
Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and
the Christian Outreach Center are
devoted to offering significant portions
of food from the four major
food groups as well as paper supplies
to those in need.
Vicki Bartholomew runs the show
of around 30 volunteers assisting
anywhere from 120 to 150 families a
week.
With COVID-19, the Cambridge
food pantry at 59 South Park Street
has had to make a few changes in the
distribution of goods to recipients.
“Now, they just pull into the driveway,
I will go out to the driveway and
see how many people are in their
family, we fill the boxes accordingly
and put it in their trunks,”
Bartholomew said.
Bartholomew added that COVID-19
has not interrupted the backpack
program for kindergarten to grade 12
students in the Cambridge Central
School District.
“I think we have 42 or 45 families
now,” she said.
The backpack program provides
breakfast and lunch for weekends
and during vacations when needy
students are not receiving breakfast
or lunch at school. Cambridge
The Cambridge Food Pantry is located at
59 South Park Street.
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Central School distributes the backpacks
to students on Friday afternoons,
as the food pantry gives the
necessary goods to the district to do
so.
The weekly Friday community
lunch program and Code Blue affiliation
have stopped at the food pantry
because of COVID-19.
Since 2015, the Code Blue site had
provided warm shelter for those who
were homeless or had inadequate
heating during the winter’s coldest
nights. Beginning in January, Loaves
and Fishes used to be open from 6
p.m. to 8:30 a.m. on nights when the
temperature went below 20 degrees
or the weather was deemed dangerous.
Bartholomew feels a great sense
of joy giving back to her community
in any way that she can.
“It’s just a very rewarding job to
know that we can help somebody in
need,” Bartholomew said.
The pantry hours are Wednesdays
from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Fridays from 4
p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11
a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information on volunteering
or to make a pick-up referral,
please contact Bartholomew at 518-
677-7152, or visit the organization’s
Facebook page titled “Cambridge
Food Pantry & Christian Outreach
Center”.
32 • NYVT Media • Cambridge Valley Community Guide • 2021 www.nyvtmedia.com