Archive: Around Town

(Bottom to top) Savanna Pasto, Diyah Rahaman, Toni Adams, Lily Helmer
March 16 brought a month long closure to schools in Tompkins county due to the Corona virus crisis. This put many families into the challenge of having to feed their kids meals they would normally get at school. Adding to that was the unexpected increase to families food budgets and the strong encouragement to avoid social setting. This uncertainty led Susan Tabrizi, Amy Frith and Linda Pasto of Lansing Lunchbox and Toni Adams of the Lansing Food Pantry to plan an emergency food distribution.

On March 20 and 21 over 100 kids received bags of enough food to last 14 days with shelf stable and fresh items including cereal, milk,eggs, fruit, tuna and mac &cheese.

	If you need of food at this difficult time the Lansing Food Pantry is having a special food pantry on April 13 from 10 am-12pm. All Lansing residents are eligible to participate with no registration necessary. For more information call the Pantry at 607-379-7245. Foodbank of the Southern Tier has a food finder link that lists programs across Tompkins County and the Southern Tier.  The Foodbank of the Southern Tier has suspended all Mobile Truck pantries, however, the Lansing Food Pantry will be open on the 2nd Monday of the month from 10-noon as a Drive Thru Only until further notice, with no residence restrictions. The 4th Monday of the month (regular pantry) is still operating as usual however as a Drive Thru for Lansing residents only. Hours are 1-3p.m. Contact Lansing Lunchbox at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. To access other community resources call 211 for information and referrals locally.

Tabrizi said "We saw our numbers increase in size dramatically from 62 in February to 103 in March. Our planned Spring Break program just concluded on Wednesday and we have again served a record number of 120 kids"

The local need is great and Lansing Lunchbox is prepared to meet sustained needs.

The coronavirus crisis has forced the program to shift operations, limiting volunteers, using social distancing, safe hygiene practices and instituting a drive up system. The goal of the program is to remain a resource for the Lansing community as long as there is a need. Lansing Lunchbox works closely with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and Lansing Market to purchase food and local farmers have donated as well. Space for the program has been donated by the Community Recreation Center in conjunction with the Lansing Food Pantry.

Summer of 2018 a need was recognized locally. Students who received 1-2 meals a day during the school year had no options available in the Lansing community during summer months. In collaboration with the Lansing Central School District and Lansing PTSO, Lansing Lunchbox started distributing food to families three times during the summer of 2019. In 2020 plans were made to include both Winter and Spring Breaks with additional food distributions. The funds for the Lansing Lunch Box program have come through a grant from the Triad Foundation and the Kevin M. Snyder Foundation as well as many other community donors.

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