C.S.A. is OPEN for Grab & Go!
FREE DINNER!
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
From 5pm – 5:45
8 South 2nd Avenue
Mt. Vernon, NY 10550
Mailing Address is different from distribution address.
Please send all mail to:
Community Service Associates, Inc.
38 East 1st Street
Mt. Vernon, NY 10550
A Note From Our Director, Roberta Apuzzo
“2021 was a tricky one for CSA as we had to relocate our services due to the failing infrastructure of the Armory. Fortunately, it did not take long for the community to hear our pleas for a new space, and we quickly found a new home at Generations Church, which is a non-denominational church here in Mt. Vernon. This move ended up benefitting the community as the new location is closer to where the need is greatest, and our numbers doubled from 40 people per night to now over 80 people per night!! With the extra mouths to feed also come extra costs, especially now that we are still operating as a Grab & Go. Thanks to our many wonderful volunteers who have been making meals for us, we have been able to cut a lot of our food spending, however we are still left with the issue of paying for everyday necessities such as rent, internet/phone, insurance, supplies, and salaries. Funding from the City, State, and Federal levels for such operational expenses continue to disappoint, especially now when the need for our vital services is so great. The cost of supplies has doubled as well as food needed to feed so many.
The new facility also offered other challenges. Where the Armory had a big and spacious industrial sized kitchen, our new facility is much, much smaller, with only room for a handful of freezers and a small 30 inch stove! As you can imagine, cooking and reheating food for over 80 people per night on a small apartment sized cooktop and oven has proven to be a challenge! We desperately need funding to help purchase the proper equipment we need to help run this operation more efficiently, and that includes purchasing a new industrial sized convection oven.
Rent and Utilities are also a new expense that we were not paying at the Armory. Please know that your monetary contributions go directly to our operational costs including food, supplies, rent, utilities and salaries so that we can continue to serve the community with FREE healthy nutritious meals!”
Roberta Apuzzo
Executive Director
If there is anymore information that we can provide, please CONTACT US!
EACH GUEST RECEIVES A *TAKE HOME LUNCH!
Every week our team of volunteers prepare and package around 120 sandwiches to be given out with dinner. Our bread is donated from Terranova Bread Factory, and our sliced deli meat/cheese is donated by REACH Church.
This is a major savings to us and we thank both parties for their gracious donations every week!
*Unfortunately due to the high numbers of guests, the cost of sliced deli meat/cheese, and the lack of places to store the pre-made sandwiches, we tend to run out of lunches by the end of Wednesday’s Dinner Service.
We truly apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our guests who rely on these lunches.
If at any time you wish to donate sliced deli meat/cheese, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
“Make A Meal For One Night” Is More Popular Than Ever!
Thanks to all of our Volunteers for helping make our “Make A meal For One Night” Program such a success! The calendar is open and waiting for you to sign up!!!
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR WONDERFUL DONORS!
“The Winter Drive was a HUGE success at William E. Cottle School in Tuckahoe, NY. This idea was created by the Cottle School G.O. (student government) with the help of our advisor, Ms. Pia Vicario and administration. We created a coupon for a PJ DAY to use as an incentive and boy did it work! We collected the items each day and helped organize them. Our hope is to help others and provide them with things that they may need. We collected the items each day and helped organize them.
Please send our best wishes to all!”
Sincerely, The Cottle School G.O.
While CSA does get some funding from Westchester County, we would not exists without the generous donations of our local schools, churches, clubs, businesses, individuals and families! Monetary donations are used for all daily operational expenses from paying for food and rent to funding staff and everything in between. We THANK YOU for helping to keep our doors open, lights on, and ovens cooking!
Eagle Scout Project 2021
In December of 2020 we were approached by Life Scout JP Denfeld from Troop 5, Bronxville to discuss a range of potential Eagle Projects. Many times this means helping others in the community by doing a specific project. After a few visits and discussions on how the scouts could help, we decided that the best project would be re-organizing and moving our pantry which was located on the balcony floor to the unused office on the second floor. Along with the organization and thorough inspection of hundreds of canned goods, the team of scouts led by JP Denfeld moved everything, cleaned the shelving units, and even installed a fresh new floor in the room where the new pantry would live. They re-organized and re-shelved all pantry items by date, and product, and installed 3 brand new shelving units to hold many of our supply goods. This amazing crew did all of this is a matter of 3 days! We are so happy to have a beautifully clean room to store our emergency pantry goods, and we are very proud of JP, and all of the scouts and scouters that made this project possible. We wish to congratulate JP on this achievement, and want to thank all of the scouts, scouters, and adults who participated to make this Eagle Scout Project a great success! Check out the slideshow below!
List of Volunteers from Troop 5
| JP Denfeld | ||
| Michael Denfeld | ||
| Hunter Denfeld | ||
| Sheridan Denfeld | ||
| Jon Denfeld | ||
| CJ Green | ||
| Cian Merluccio | ||
| Roan Merluccio | ||
| Matt Presant | ||
| Gabe Gilmer | ||
| Vince La Vecchia | ||
| Marco La Vecchia | ||
| Edward Phillips | ||
| Peter Phillips | ||
| Alex Dallendorfer | ||
| Andreas Wimmershoff | ||
| Eamon Sullivan | ||
| Mike Reeder |
New Partnerships and Volunteers!
www.deborah-huldahministries.org/
We are thrilled to forge new partnerships and invite new volunteer groups and individuals to our CSA Family! 2021 will finish strong as we continue receiving local support with “make a meal” donations and monetary contributions.
Volunteer
Take Home Lunch
Our Mission
What started out in 1986 as a small lunch program has grown into one of the most vital meal programs in the City of Mount Vernon, NY.
We are here to provide a nutritious meal to the most at risk in our community. We offer a free meal, 4 nights per week to anyone in need with no eligibility criteria required.
Our primary operation is a free dinner service every Tuesday – Friday from 5pm – 5:45. We also offer a take home lunch, an emergency pantry, and other take home items (when available).
Want to Volunteer?
Want To Make A Donation?
Here are some of our supporters, past and present. We thank you!
If you wish to send a check, please make checks payable to: “Community Service Associates, Inc.”