It takes a community to alleviate hunger. Our partners, volunteers, and donors make it possible. 16,077 volunteers contributed 56,270 total volunteer hours - the equivalent of 27 full-time employees! 3,673 of those volunteers were first time visitors to the Food Bank! We hosted our volunteers at five different sites: the Regional Food Bank’s main warehouse, the Selina Drive warehouse, the Patroon Land Farm, Crossgates Mall, and Food Bank of the Hudson Valley’s warehouse. Due to capacity constraints at our satellite facility in Cornwall, nearly 60% of the food distributed in the southern six counties of our service area were transported from our headquarters in Latham, thus necessitating an initiative to build a new, larger distribution space for the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley. 2021 saw the entire community rally around this effort. The Food Bank will continue to operate from its current location while the new space is being built, with expected completion in 2023. This enhanced facility will enable us to provide a greater variety of food, better access for food donors, and improved service to our partner agencies. With generous support from Siena College Research Institute, we conducted a GAP Analysis that mapped food insecurity rates in each community we serve, comparing it to the locations of our partner agencies and the amount of food distributed to each community. Armed with this information, we launched a strategic effort to increase food security in underserved communities. In 2021, we received 28.8 million pounds of donated food and products from 410 donors including distribution centers, farmers, truckers, wholesalers/brokers, Feeding America, and food drives. Monetary contributions from individuals, corporations, clubs, and community events assist with our daily operations and provide valuable program support, allowing us to scale our services to meet the need. 10 foodservice companies, manufacturers, retail stores,
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