Welcome

 

NEW LOCATION! 
2841 Culver Road
Rochester, NY 14622
(585) 336-9107

 

Picking up your items...

When you arrive at ICC at your scheduled food pickup time, please drive into the parking lot and follow the arrows, directing you to the side door pickup area at our building.  We will bring your items to your car.

Thank you for your cooperation.

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.”

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

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"
(July 2025)

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I hope that everyone enjoyed their 4th of July weekend and that you all stayed and are staying cool! It is amazing that it goes from cold and rainy to extremely hot, humid and sunny! (I will take hot and sunny all day long!) As I write this I cannot believe we are already in to July which means that school is out for the summer. While many go away for vacations or go camping and to Seabreeze, many families struggle at this time of year the most. Kids are home from school and since they are not in school this means they also do not participate in the free breakfast and lunch programs that are offered by the school district which is funded by both the federal and state government. This is very difficult for households that already struggle with food insecurity. As I have said before, I remember how difficult it was growing up not knowing where our next meal was going to come from. I used to live for sleep overs at a friends’ house or a hanging out at a friends’ house during the day. I grew up in South Florida and as a child of 11, I remember working in a strawberry field and babysitting to help my family. The hours were long, hard and hot. I didn’t earn much money and I always came home very hungry! But this was summer, and I wasn’t in school to receive breakfast and lunch. Thankfully, children are no longer allowed to work like that.

East Irondequoit is once again hosting a FREE summer meal program that ANY child under the age of 18 can receive food-no matter where you live!

“The program will run Monday through Friday, from July 7 to August 15, 2025.

Meal Times:

Breakfast: 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Lunch: 11:00 AM – 12:45 PM
Locations:

Durand Eastman Intermediate School (Monday–Friday)
Helendale Road School (Monday–Friday)

The East Irondequoit Summer Meals Program is a USDA-funded program.
East Irondequoit CSD and the USDA are equal opportunity providers and employers.”

“Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Program:

Beginning in 2024, New York State will launch Summer EBT, a new program that provides low-income families with food benefits to help cover the cost of groceries when school is out of session. Summer is the time when many children lose access to free meals they get at school. Most eligible children will receive Summer EBT food benefits automatically; however, some families may need to apply. For more information visit this website: Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) | OTDA (ny.gov)” Again, this is for ALL children!

Speaking of summer, school is over for the year and the Board and I would like to thank all of our amazing volunteers who deliver the weekend backpack program to all of our elementary schools in the town. Every single week these amazing people show up and deliver the meals and beverages and snacks to children for the weekend; they are amazing assets to our organization! Thanks you to Mary Racinowski who coordinates the program, Jeff, Barbara, Nina, Diane and John V who pack 2 breakfast, 2 lunch, 1 milk, 1 juice, 3 snacks; every single week. Thank you Amy, Anne, Warren, Sue, Don, Sharon, Karen K, Judy, Nina, Diane, Jeff, Karen S for being a reliable and beautiful group of people; we love you all!

A note from the President and CEO, Julia Tedesco From Foodlink:

“The budget reconciliation bill passed today by Congress will slash SNAP ($200B) and Medicaid ($900B) at a time when the costs of food and healthcare remain prohibitively high. It is an unconscionable policy choice that will impact the health outcomes of our neighbors for generations.

The emergency food system we convene in the Rochester and Finger Lakes region is experiencing an unprecedented need and some of the highest food-insecurity rates in recent history. New faces at food pantries; longer lines at soup kitchens; and more frequent and costly food orders to keep their shelves stocked. The families they serve make difficult choices every day, and it is clear to us that this legislation will make their lives even more difficult.

SNAP is our nation’s most effective anti-poverty program. It provides 9x more meals than all of our nation’s 200 food banks combined. The impact of these cuts will be significant.”

The number of people in our community that now come for assistance has risen 37% since last year. Almost ALL of them rely on these programs. Adults, seniors, adults with disabilities, veterans and children…. they will all be impacted by these cuts. WE will be impacted by these cuts, all of us. More and more households will face even more difficult choices as the cost of living continue to increase. More and more people are being forced from their homes as the cost of rent increases. In 2023 a rate increase approval from RGE over a 3-year plan was to see rates increased 5.5% as of May 2024 and 6% in May 2025. They now want to raise rates another 20%! A 2-bedroom apt in Irondequoit goes for $1200-$1600 per month plus heat and electric. If you rent a 3-bedroom home, you can expect to pay about $2,500 a month plus utilities. Groceries and other goods have gone up too.

One misfortune can set a household back quite a bit. Their car dies, and they no longer have transportation to work. Do they fix the car or lose the job? You get sick and now have medical expenses. In order to afford insurance, you have a large deductible to meet. Living paycheck to paycheck, where will you get the money? What do you cut in your household budget?

As I said, our numbers of households have increased but along with that, prices for items that we pay for have also gone up, a lot. Less and less items are at no cost to food pantries from Foodlink, we need to make up the difference. Households of those who donate are also having to tighten their belt, this means less donations and this means that we must make up the difference. It will be a struggle. It IS a struggle already.

Yay! The garden season is here! For those of you who have a garden and it produces more than you can use, please consider donating your extra abundance to us. Thank you to those of you who already have.

Speaking of gardens, we are in need of volunteers to weed and help manage the landscaping at our building. You can show up and weed to your hearts content and we would be oh so grateful!

The Board of Directors and I would like to thank all of our Weekend Backpack Program Volunteers. This amazing group of people have donated their time each and every single week of the school year and we could not be more grateful! all of you for your continued partnership, your generosity and kindness; we all appreciate you. In addition to the anonymous people who donate items anonymously at the Irondequoit Library, the Ridge Culver Fire Dept and the Irondequoit Community Center, thank you we would also like to thank the following:

Eastridge High School All Sports Booster Club
The Hennessey Family
The Dengals
Living Water Christian Fellowship
The Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Palmyra)

Kelly Coye
Jeanine Politoand Tom Rizzo
Susan and Mary Kay
Richard Stiehler
Pat
Julia
Girl Scout Troop #64235
Michelle
Anne Sick
Monica Rodgers
Penfield Library
Monroe County Cornell Cooperative for supplies to the ICC garden
The Borelli’s
Ms Dube
Mr and Mrs Bissinger
Summerville Presbyterian Church
Randy Schum
The Seabreeze Bloomers
Ms Milham
The Buerkle and Lyons household

The Shaheen and Kozlowski household
Faith Keeley
Robert Ross
Mr and Mrs Thiell
The Pardee Hill Neighborhood
Doug Sangster
Mary Boehm
Luke Gabello
Matt Barber
Linda Bagdon
Mr and Mrs Hortop
Mr and Mrs Gabello
Brenda
Amy
Wegmans
Tops

Thanks is not enough to express our gratitude to each and every one of you. Have a safe and wonderful summer.

Sincerely,

Debbie Evans
Founder and President


Our amazing and talented, hardworking Board of Directors

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


Mary Bragg, Board Member
Rachel DeBlieck, Board Member
John Villeneuve, Board Member
Emily Arnold, Board Member
Diane Zaccarine, Non-voting Board Member

WAYS TO DONATE

* Go to our website at www.irondequoitcommunitycupboard.org and click on our Paypal link or use the QR code from your Smartphone.

* Look at our Top 10 list always listed on our Facebook page or our website and choose an item to purchase for us

* Donate food items and drop them off at any of our drop-off sites

* Donate gift cards for those who come to us after all of our deadlines have passed.

* Check donations can be made payable to ICC c/o Debbie Evans
PO Box 17834 Rochester, NY 14617