TOWN OF MANLIUS – After a dozen years, Linda Napier is retiring from her post as director of the FM Food Pantry, creating a vacancy that will be filled by Pam O’Malley, who is currently the administrator of the Greater Manlius Chamber of Commerce.
“Linda’s dedicated, devoted, and this is really a difficult job,” said Anita Pisano, president of the pantry’s board of directors. “For so many people it’s very difficult for them to say that they need help. It’s very difficult for someone to say ‘I don’t have enough food to feed my family.’ She’s non judgmental. She makes people feel comfortable. We’ve been blessed.”
Each month, the pantry provides five days worth of meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – for every member of the households they serve. Although the number fluctuates, at its peak, the pantry provided nutritious meals to more than 200 households in the Fayetteville-Manlius area. Currently, the pantry serves about 130 clients. About 40 percent of the food pantry’s clients are families with children. The remainder are split fairly evenly between seniors and adult households without children. The pandemic has had a big impact on the pantry, both in terms of the demand and in the pantry’s operational protocols.
“In the very beginning, it was absolutely crazy. We had an incredible spike,” Napier said. “We had people calling that never thought they were going to come to a food pantry. Their jobs were eliminated temporarily, their hours were cut, so their family dynamics changed.”
For some families, the pantry provided temporary assistance. They came for a month or two before getting back on their feet. Others continue to use the pantry’s service to this day.
Prior to the pandemic, the pantry would hold food drives and clients could come in and select food from the shelves. Now when clients come to the pantry, they are met at the door, fill out an order form based on their family size, and volunteers package up the food and bring it outside for clients to put in their vehicles.
“Ultimately, when the world changes in a positive direction, we’ll be able to open our doors for food drives and we will be able to open up our doors for clients,” Napier said. “For right now, that’s not the case, so we’re asking for monetary donations.”
Napier said nearly all the food that moves through the pantry comes from the Food Bank of Central New York, and being affiliated with the Food Bank also avails the pantry to free food from the USDA as well as other food donations. The affiliation with the Food Bank really allows the pantry to stretch its dollars, she said.
“For every dollar we get enough food to buy three nutritious meals,” Napier said. “We’re very lucky to have [the Food Bank] in our area. The bang for the buck is just phenomenal.”
O’Malley is no stranger to the FM Food Pantry’s operation. As a Girl Scout leader, she was involved in a number of service projects that supported the pantry and in her daughter’s senior year at F-M, she earned the Young and Amazing for developing F-M Fresh Meals, a program which provides fresh produce to the pantry that continues to this day. She also worked with the pantry through her role with the chamber of commerce, which has worked on a number of fundraisers in recent years to support the pantry.
“My goal here would be to continue on the good work that Linda’s been doing and to increase awareness about hunger in our community, which people don’t always think is happening,” O’Malley said.
Families in need of the food pantry’s services can reach out by phone at (315) 682-3688 or by email at fmfoodpantrycny.com to start the process. When a new client comes to the pantry, their residency in the F-M school district and their income eligibility are confirmed. Napier said that in a small town where people may believe there is a stigma in relying on charity, the pantry is very careful to maintain confidentiality.
The pantry has been an incorporated not for profit organization for the past 13 years. It originated in the community’s faith organizations, several of which had their own food pantries before consolidating them into a single organization. The pantry still has strong ties with the area’s churches, including a partnership with First Baptist Church of Manlius for Grace Abounds Wearhouse, which provides clothing to low-income families.
The FM food pantry is located in the back of the Pavone’s Pizza building in Manlius, and the space is donated by the Pavone family. The pantry is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:30 to 7 p.m. for clients, and Mondays and Thursdays for donations, although the hours during the pandemic have been “fluid,” Napier said.
At least for now, the best way to contact the pantry is to call.
“If you need help, call us,” Napier said. “If you want to provide help, call us.”