Since 2021, The Church of Good Shepherd has focused much of its outreach on programs focused on feeding food insecure people in northern Westchester County. The ministry began by providing bag lunches to families that frequented food pantries in Mohegan Lake and Katonah NY. In 2022 the ministry added a program specifically focused on providing food and community to seniors.
Many seniors in Westchester are dependent on senior centers for food and community, however, the centers are only open from Monday through Friday. On weekends there is no place in northern Westchester to get these essentials needs met. The Church Of Good Shepherd recognized this problem and began a once a month weekend program to help address it. At its inception, it was assumed that the program would be serving between 20 and 30 seniors at each lunch. In the two years later, we have increased our frequency to twice a month and serve a core group of over 100 individuals.
In 2024 we expanded the senior program to include Brewster, a nearby town in Putnam County, which has a large populations of seniors, many of whom are food insecure.
In the summer of 2025 we will begin serving seniors in Mohegan Lake.
With the addition of Brewster and Mohegan Lake, between the senior and food pantry ministries, the church will provide about 10,000 full meals annually.
