By Liz Leamy
Rye’s ever-busy and much beloved Bread of Life, the hunger charity that has been providing provisions and love to thousands in the Westchester and surrounding New York and Connecticut communities for the past 7 years, has once again been making an huge impact in the area with its Saturday morning White Plains food pantry.
This remarkable endeavor, in which Pastor Pasquale Falco of Bread of Life distributes bags of dry goods, vegetables, fruit and meat, fish and chicken starting at 7 am every Saturday morning to hundreds of individuals at the Little Mount Zion Holy Church right in the center of White Plains, is a winner in every respect.
This weekly food pantry helps provide a huge sense of comfort and relief to those who regularly show up, a contingent that includes senior citizens as well as dads, moms and their children who line up at the church as early as 6 am.
“There are parents who line up in the middle of the winter in the freezing cold or in the rain as early as 6 am with their children, which tells you about the great need for food,” said Dr. Sherri Falco, co-founder of the Bread of Life (aka Giving Tree Global). “It’s all very heartbreaking to see. We are all working together to help each other as much as we can.”
Every Saturday, Pastor Pasquale, the force behind this astonishing effort, gets up at 5 am or earlier to organize and pack up food in his big blue pickup truck so he can bring it to the Little Mount Zion Church for the people. Typically, Pastor Pasquale will load his truck with dozens of bags of essential dry goods, fruits, vegetables and meats, all donated by local grocery stores, local pizza and bagel shops, and other businesses.
Thankfully, the Bread of Life has been able to get provisions to this segment of the Westchester community through most of the pandemic period, although there were a few months when it was not able to be delivered to them due to food shortages experienced by the organization at the start of the Covid-19 in March.
“We want to do everything we can do to help,” said Pastor Pasquale. “That is our purpose.”
Certainly, the Falco’s and the Bread of Life team have been making major inroads in terms of affecting lives throughout the entire Westchester area over the past decade, that’s for sure.
On alternate Mondays, the Bread of Life feeds hundreds of families at their Orchard Avenue base, located right in the heart of the city of Rye, with their food pantry in which they give away bags of dry goods, fruit and vegetables and meats, among other things.
Meanwhile every month the Bread of Life is responsible for helping to feed thousands of people and families all over the area, including individuals living in shelter homes and those at assisted living facilities, among other places.
Last spring, the Falco’s were honored by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the City of White Plains with a letter thanking them for their incredible contributions to the community.
“It’s what we do,” said Pastor Pasquale. “We want to get food to as many people as we can.”
For the Falco’s, it is all just part of showing the love of God to those in need.
Food donations may be dropped off at 65 Orchard Avenue in Rye. Financial donations may be made via Venmo Bread Life @Bread-of-Life or www.GivingTreeGlobal.org.
