DAYTON — The Western New York Food Bank recently presented Dayton Food Pantry with the 2017 Agency of the Year Award for Cattaraugus County.
According to Carol Palumbo, agency services director for the Western New York Food Bank (WNY) in Buffalo, Dayton had all the perfect ingredients to be selected for the award.
The annual award is presented to a food pantry in good standing and up-to-date with its records and documentation, she said. In addition, the pantry’s staff orders and distributes food, assists the food bank as needed, provides extra help and services to the community and collaborates with others in the community. They are also a “client choice” pantry.
“A ‘client choice’ pantry is one where the clients come in, take a shopping cart and pick out a number of products – based on their family-size – with the assistance of a volunteer,” Palumbo said. “It’s a very strength-based approach to food pantry distribution. Some pantries still do pre-packed bags, but the client choice pantries are very empowering for the families.”
Palumbo said the Dayton Food Pantry is a “client choice” pantry. That is one of the things that makes Dayton special and qualified them for the Agency of the Year award, she said.
Angie Mardino-Miller, founder and executive director of the Dayton Food Pantry, said there is a huge need in the Dayton area for this food pantry. Because of their close proximity to three different counties, they outreach to Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie counties with this ministry. She said they also had an occasion where they helped a family in Niagara County.
“Anybody who qualifies can come to us, but we tell them what food pantries are close to where they live; then they make the choice,” she said.
According to Palumbo, the agencies are encouraged to not just depend on the food bank for their sources of food and support, but to seek other sources for additional things including personal care products and other items or additional food products that they can go get for their clients.
Mardino-Miller said their food pantry does other community service on their own, including a soup kitchen from where they serve over 400 guests a month. She said they have a tremendous amount of community support and they host an annual motorcycle dice run to raise additional funds.
“Angie is very committed to her community and to folks in need,” Palumbo said. “She’s willing to do that extra work to mobilize more resources and to really put forth the effort. It shows in the structures she has put together.”
Palumbo said the Dayton Food Pantry has been a member of the Western New York Food Bank since 2011. With the assistance of 20 to 25 volunteers, the pantry serves about 360 individuals per month and provides about 3,500 meals to those clients each month through the WNY Food Bank. The pantry also participates in the “Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables” program. She said the “Food Express Truck” is an extra added bonus the food bank provides to the Dayton agency for the community.
Assisted by Director Roberta Johnston and volunteers, the two dedicated women have served the community since 2007. They started their pantry out of an old, abandoned barn that has been remodeled, painted red and marked with a sign.
According to Mardino-Miller, multiple benefactors have contributed toward the concrete driveway and the building’s additions. She said the Amish were regularly involved with upgrading the pantry, including laying concrete and helping side the building.
Mardino-Miller said this is an exciting time for the group, which has built the food pantry to where it is today. She said this leg of their journey has been incredible with so many people from all walks of life coming together to complete the pantry which, just a short time ago, seemed unreachable and is now a reality.
“What an extreme honor to receive this award,” she said. “We couldn’t do what we do without putting God first in everything we do, as well as having the resources to carry out the work and, most importantly, without having the unity we share as a team. I am thankful to Jesus for sending such a beautiful bunch of people to fulfill this vision.”
Mardino-Miller, a part-time registered nurse, and her husband, Bob Miller, live just a few blocks from the pantry. They both have pastoral degrees and planted a church, Master’s Plan Community Church, at the old Dayton Hotel in 2014.
They are slated to open a restaurant in April, which is also ministry-based. Because she said there are so many working-poor that can’t afford to take care of their teeth, they are planning to bring “Teeth Ministry” to the community.
The Dayton Food Pantry is an income-based program that is open Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Food Express Truck, which is a non-income based program, brings fresh food out to the community on the third Wednesday of every month at 11 a.m. Mardino-Miller said they serve anywhere from 130 to 160 families on that day.
The facility is located at 9586 Railroad Ave. in Dayton. To find out more about the food pantry and its requirements, call 725-9229 or email Mardino-Miller at themastersplancafe@gmail.com.
(Contact reporter Deb Everts at salpressdeb@gmail.com.)
