Welcome

School Supplies

ICC will once again provide school supplies to any child that lives in Irondequoit - this includes Urban Suburban children. We strongly believe that every child should begin the year on equal footing.

Advance registration is required.

Please call 336-9107 if you or someone you know needs school supplies this year.

Due to covid the Town of Irondequoit and the DPW offered to let us use the their location. So this year the distribution will be on

Wednesday, August 26th from 6:00-7:30PM.
2629 East Ridge Road

For those who have asked, these are the school supplies we currently need:
We need
plastic pencil boxes
Crayola markers (fat and thin)
Pencil sharpeners
Plastic folder WITH prongs
Composition notebooks
Pencil bags
Colored pencils
Erasers
Wide ruled spiral notebooks
Pocket folders WITH prongs
Wide ruled filler paper
Highliters
Index cards
Post it notes
1 1/2- 2” hard sided 3 ring binder

Please let parents know that we can help with school supplies during this difficult time.

TEMPORARY POLICY

When you arrive at ICC at your scheduled food pickup time, please drive past our building, turn around and pull up along the edge of ICC.  We will bring your items to your car, instead of you coming inside the building.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The Irondequoit Community Cupboard has always been about “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” The corona virus is here and We really dont know much about it except that the elderly population and those with compromised immune systems are most susceptible.

If you are an at risk Irondequoit resident who is elderly or has a compromised immune system such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, COPD, and those receiving cancer treatment, I will bring you emergency food. I do not want you to put yourself at a higher risk than necessary.

Please contact me directly at iccdebbieevans@gmail.com if you would like me to do this for you.

Debbie

Irondequoit Community Cupboard, Inc.

The Irondequoit Community Cupboard, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization designed to meet a variety of needs for families and individuals in the Town of Irondequoit, NY.

Mission Statement

“To provide emergency assistance to Irondequoit residents with dignity, kindness and without prejudice.”

Vision

"To raise awareness of the presence and impact of hunger and poverty in our community. We envision a community where all people share resources to ensure that residents’ basic needs are met in times of limited resources.

We advocate for and reach out to those in need and try to influence public policy so that every person in our community has the necessary support and resources to enhance nutrition, health and welfare.”

Amazon.com for ICC

This will only take a moment of your time; I know you shop at Amazon, especially for the holidays. You can help the Irondequoit Community Cupboard just by going to https://smile.amazon.com and then type in Irondequoit Community Cupboard You would then continue to shop whatever it was you were shopping for and we get a (small) dollar percentage of your order. So we win for you doing what you were going to do anyway. This would be a great and easy way for you to “Help us Help others” in our community.

For more information you can go to Facebook page for up to date photos and info https://www.facebook.com/Irondequoit-Community-Cupboard-Inc-180196068672489/?fref=ts

United Way
Remember us at United Way giving time we are designee #2466

Bottle and Can Returns
Great news!!! Thanks to Bob Schultz for making me aware of a unique (to us) way for us to raise some money. If you need to return bottles and cans, and who doesn’t, you can bring them to Quick Cans Recycling at 471 East Ridge Road, Rochester, NY 14621, and donate the proceeds to us just by mentioning the Irondequoit Community Cupboard.

If you are in need of assistance, please call (585) 336-9107.
(no appointments are made online)

Distribution Hours (BY APPOINTMENT ONLY)
Tuesday & Saturday from 9:30AM - 11:00AM.

Office Hours (BY PHONE ONLY)
Monday & Wednesday 9:00AM - 4:00PM
Fridays 9:00AM-12:00PM

"Letter from the President"
(October 2020)

Today is like a crisp fall day which makes me realize that we are thisclose to winter and anyone who knows me knows I am not a fan of cold. This year instead of apple picking and making fry cakes I am worried about our community. This year, I believe, will bring new challenges as we all try to wade through covid, job loss, food insecurity and the inability to find products for our homes. (and food pantry)

Many residents do not have the basic needs to cover their household. Every day I speak to people who are afraid because they have not yet gone back to work and they worry what the economic impact will be to their household and how they will get through the winter season.

We provided our Annual Back to School Supply night with a huge success. Thank you so much to Supervisor Seeley and the crew at the DPW garage for allowing our distribution to occur there, it was so helpful and more efficient! We provided 237 children with new backpacks and school supplies. In addition, we continue to give school supplies to kids who need them for both in school and at home learning. We always have school supplies on hand for those who need them.

We have been asked over and over, how we are doing, do we have what we need. Over the past 6 months, since Covid hit, we have provided enough food for 69,762 meals. Almost more than what we provide on an annual basis! I say it all the time, how fortunate we are to live in such an amazing community; you have all been incredible. I know this hasn’t been easy on anyone, but to see how this community steps up to help each other is always amazing.

We will begin our Weekend Backpack Program shortly for children to take food home on the weekend. This food is a supplement to what their family can provide, intended to ease their burden, even if only a little bit. While we cannot provide food to every child in every school, we are working with both school districts to see how we can best support each unique school. In previous years, the weekend backpack program was for kids who were in K-5. (8 schools in total) In addition to the weekend food, we also provided snacks for the month to that school to be distributed as needed. New, last year we provided food to I.H.S. so they could start a food closet for those who reached out to their teacher, counselor, coach, etc. We do not yet know its impact because covid hit just a couple of weeks after.

Many of you know that as a child, too many times, the last meal of the day was the one I had in school. I remember what it is like to go to the refrigerator and see nothing there or go to the food cupboard and see nothing there. Anyone else who has lived through this knows what I mean. Not something that words can really express. Sometimes I swear I can see the hunger in the eyes of some of the kids we try to help. I remember trying to hide the fact that I was hungry. I remember being an angry child sometimes and how sometimes that anger took on many forms. When I speak in classrooms I sometimes get pulled aside and told how if not for us they would not have had Christmas. Or how their parent likes to visit us because they are always treated with dignity. Or how excited they are to try new foods with the recipes we provide. Many times, I get a hug which says it all. We get those who we once helped, give back. Hunger is something no one in the United States should ever feel, there is just no excuse. And with your help, no one will.

Believe it or not this weekend we begin the signups for the holiday season! Like years past, we will provide Thanksgiving baskets, Christmas baskets and our ever-popular Special Santa program. In addition, to a Christmas meal, we also supply extra food to help those over the winter break when children are not receiving meals in school. Our Special Santa program is a program offered for all children 18 and under, adults with disabilities and senior citizens. We gather information on the wants and needs for the individuals in the household, type up the lists and share it with our email distribution lists. We want to make sure children wake up on Christmas morning as excited as anyone. We want adults who struggle day to day, to not have to worry about gifts for their kids. We want everyone to have a nice holiday meal. We want seniors to know they are thought of and that they are not alone. We believe that everyone deserves a nice Christmas. (or whichever holiday they believe in)

So, that being said, sign ups are in person, at ICC, on Tuesdays and Saturdays beginning Saturday Oct 3, from 1115am -1200pm. This will continue through the month of October. Requirements are they MUST be an Irondequoit resident. Each adult needs to bring a current month’s bill or copy of a lease to show their permanent residence.

The deadline for Thanksgiving is Saturday November 7th

The deadline for Special Santa is Saturday November 7th

The Special Santa list goes out via email on Monday November 9th

The deadline for a Christmas meal is Saturday December 5th

If you would like to donate food items for these meals I will write these items at the end of this plus they are listed on our website page www.irondequoitcommunitycupboard.org

If you would like to get on our distribution list to become a Special Santa, email me your email address so that I can add you to it.

If you would like to drop off NON-PERISHABLE items from our Top 10 list (see below) you can do so at the Ridge Culver Fire Dept or the Irondequoit Public Library. If you want to donate these or perishable items, at ICC, we are now requesting they be brought to us before 10am. If it is between 10am and 11am you will be directed to the side door so as not to disrupt the distribution that we will be continuing outdoors for the foreseeable future.

If you want to donate monetary donations you can do so through paypal or you can make checks payable to ICC c/o Debbie Evans PO Box 17834 Rochester, NY 14617

Our volunteer schedule through the end of the year is full. Attention all volunteers, as you enter the building please stop and get a temperature check, wash your hands and yes, masks are required. Our building continues to be closed except for our workers to help minimize covid contamination and to continue to have a small contact tracing list. The only exception is for those who need coats. If you need a warm, gently used coat, please try to let me know in advance so that I can make sure we have someone to assist you. We continue to need and accept clean and laundered, gently used coats, new hats and gloves and gently used children boots. We really need large, extra-large and larger adult size coats.

We continue to hope that you all stay safe and healthy. I hope you know how grateful we are for your continued support, beyond grateful. 😊


Sincerely,

Debbie Evans President and
Executive Director


Lisa Loeser, Chairperson
MaryJo Toepfer, Vice Chairperson
John Kane, Treasurer
Cherie Evans, Secretary

Diane Zaccarine, Corresponding Secretary
Mary Bragg, Board Member
Carolyn DeHond, Board Member
John Villeneuve, Board Member