Welcome
Picking up your items...
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"
(November 2025)
Dear Friends,
As you can imagine, things here at ICC have been extremely busy. In
addition to the holiday sign ups and preparation, we are working
with those who have been adversely affected by the government shut
down. I cannot begin to tell you how horrible this is for those in
our community who not only utilize SNAP benefits, but also those who
have/had jobs within the government who are not receiving a
paycheck. I have not seen anything like the panic we are witnessing
since COVID. Due to the high volume of calls, I have been returning
calls late into the evening. To make sure that everyone gets seen,
we have even added an extra day.
As many of you know, these are challenging, concerning and uncertain
times; not just for us as an emergency food pantry, but more
importantly for our clients. They are scared. They do not know when
their SNAP (food stamps) will resume. A single mom I spoke with this
week has been furloughed from the SSA and of course, has not been
paid. She doesn’t receive SNAP, has never needed it. She has never
had to visit a food pantry before. She has never had to ask for help
before. She was embarrassed and in tears.
The increase in food costs, the increase in utility costs, the
uncertainty of their health insurance, is very scary. I know I keep
repeating myself about all of this, but I have cried many times over
the past 2 weeks. These are people. These are our friends; our
neighbors and food should not be an issue in the United States.
In addition to not getting a paycheck or SNAP benefits, we have been
told there will not be HEAP this year. The home energy assistance
program (HEAP) has been zeroed out of the federal budget for the
2026 year. DO you realize how many people rely on HEAP to help pay
their heating bills? The administration dismissed the entire federal
staff responsible for overseeing LIHEAP in April 2025 so even if
Congress decides to add it back to the budget there is no one to
oversee the program.
In addition to all of this, it is also the holiday time. For those
who haven’t received a paycheck in over a month, it will take a
while to catch up. Even if the shutdown ends tomorrow, it could take
weeks to get paid. I am doing my best to let them know how much our
community cares. I tell them that Irondequoit is THE best town to
live in and we will not let them go hungry. We will not let them go
without a holiday meal or presents at Christmas.
We are AMAZED and blown away by how generous you all have been with
donations this past week and we are beyond grateful; thank you so
much!! Thank you acknowledgments will be a little delayed but please
know they will come. I will be sending out a separate email (like
this) tomorrow with special thanks to all of our donors.
Our holiday signups are continuing:
Everyone MUST be an Irondequoit resident. The exception to this is
Urban Suburban families as they ARE part of our Irondequoit family.
The Thanksgiving and Special Santa deadline is this Saturday
November 8th. People can sign up from 11:15 -11:45. Adults need to
bring a current bill for each adult in the household to show they
are an Irondequoit resident.
I will be writing up the Special Santa lists and sending them out to
our email distribution list on Monday November 10th.
The deadline for the Holiday meal is Tuesday December 9th.
From now through January, we are no longer accepting items that are
beyond the best by date. With the overwhelming calls and the busy
holiday times it takes too long to go through every item we receive
and check to see how long each item lasts beyond a best by date. We
would be very appreciative if you can support this. Lastly, we know
everyone who donates food does so because they want to assist those
in our community who are struggling. Lately we have been receiving
items like peanut butter, mayo, bread crumbs etc that have already
been opened and used. Unfortunately, because we cannot try to open
every item that comes in, a few have slipped through the cracks and
have been given to our clients. I know this isn’t your intention so
could you please try and check the items you are donating. We would
definitely appreciate it. 😊
Thank you from our entire board of directors from the bottom of our
heart to all of you for your continued support!
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, Board Member
Emily Wayland, 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