RyeCity REVIEW THE
April 17, 2020 | Vol. 8, Number 14 | www.ryecityreview.com
Feeding Westchester distributes 2.1M pounds of food Cuomo extends stay-at-home order through May 15 Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on April 16 all New York State on Pause restrictions and closures will be extended until May 15. This action is taken in consultation with other regional states. The states will re-evaluate after this additional closure period.
“Unpausing New York and reopening our economy is going to be an ongoing process over the coming weeks that we’re working through with other states.” – Gov. Andrew Cuomo
The country may be closed, but food banks like Feeding Westchester, remain wide open to meet the needs of local families upended by this crisis.
Feeding Westchester distributed a record 2.1 million pounds of food since the beginning of March and more is on the way. The county’s leading nonprofit, hunger-relief organization mobilized like never before to respond to the coronavirus crisis. The team distributed nearly 1.5 million pounds of food in March alone—almost double the amount of food from March of last year. The country may be closed, but food banks like Feeding Westchester, remain wide open to meet the needs of local families upended by this crisis. Feeding Westchester is providing shelf-stable product, like pasta, rice and cereal, as well as
frozen meats, dairy and fresh produce through its drive-thru distributions, bulk drops to municipalities and 300 partner agencies and programs throughout Westchester County. Before the crisis hit, fresh fruit and vegetables made up 40 percent of food distributed. Now, produce is more than 50 percent of what is available across the county and especially in underserved communities disproportionally impacted by the virus. Before the COVID-19 crisis, 200,000 people in Westchester lived with food insecurity every day. The need now has more than doubled to easily half a million people. To put that into
perspective, there are only one million people in Westchester. “For many people in Westchester, the crisis has left them food insecure. That’s not something we can fix with a vaccine and we won’t need a test to know that it’s there,” said Matt Honeycutt, vice president of Feeding Westchester. “Feeding Westchester is working hard to feed more families than ever before at a time when donated food is drying up and food drives can’t happen. We are buying more food on the open market, but we’re competing with everyone for it.” As Feeding Westchester continues to respond to the great-
est need and demand it has ever seen for food here are home, it’s also providing much-needed support for Feeding America’s network of 200 food banks around the county. The nonprofit’s communications team produced several videos to be used by Feeding America and food banks in communities across America. Of that effort, Honeycutt added, “We’re in New York and Governor Andrew Cuomo set the example when he said New York would be there to help other states when the time came. It’s time, and we’re taking that motto to heart here and helping our colleagues however we can.” (Submitted)
Gov. Cuomo also directed all New Yorkers to wear masks or face coverings on public transportation systems and while taking private transportation or riding in for-hire vehicles. Additionally, all operators of public systems, private carriers and for-hire vehicles must wear a mask or face covering at all times while working. These directives expand on the Executive Order announced by the governor on April 15 requiring all people in New York to wear a mask or a face covering when out in public and in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained. The Executive Order went into effect on Friday, April 17, at 8 p.m. The governor also announced the state will give 100 ventila-
tors to New Jersey. That comes a day after Cuomo announced the state will give 100 ventilators to Michigan and 50 ventilators to Maryland. “Unpausing New York and reopening our economy is going to be an ongoing process over the coming weeks that we’re working through with other states, but we have to do it in a way that doesn’t drive up the infection rate and create a second wave of the virus,” Cuomo said. “We have shown that we can control the spread of the virus, but we can’t now undo all the progress we’ve made. As we continue to work on a regional plan to get people back to work and get businesses back up and running in a safe and responsible way, we are extending all NYS on Pause functions until May 15th in coordination with other states in our multi-state council because although we can control the beast, we need to get that infection rate down even more and we are not there yet.” (Submitted)
POSITIVE CASES BY COUNTY AS OF 4/16 New York City ...........................123,146 Nassau.........................................27,772 Suffolk.........................................24,182 Westchester...............................21,828 Rockland.....................................8,752 Orange.........................................5,888 Dutchess.....................................2,085 Erie...............................................1,850