Numbers tell the Joshua Project’s story:
40,000 meals served this summer.
That’s the estimate of Joshua President Pat Costello, who reviewed the organization’s Summer Lunch and Backpack programs Tuesday night.
Backpack has provided at least 21,000 meals, and Summer Lunch gets dozens of people at four sites every day.
“You should be proud,” Mr. Costello told about 25 volunteers at a meeting in Cobleskill. “You’re all doing a wonderful job.”
Sites in Cobleskill, Middleburgh, Richmondville and Central Bridge serve free Summer Lunches. There was a strong demand earlier in the summer, but numbers have dropped recently.
The Sunshine Fair and events in July and August may account for the drop in numbers, Mr. Costello said.
“Listen, 20, 30, 40 or eight to 10 people, it’s still important,” he said.
“People are still grateful for it regardless of the numbers,” said Amy Mahar, a volunteer at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Central Bridge, one of the sites.
And even though lunches dropped recently, “In July, we fed almost as many people as all of last summer,” Mr. Costello said.
Carrie and Dennis Foland coordinate the Backpack Program, and Ms. Foland said they’re providing 163 bags to needy families all around Schoharie County every week.
Each bag contains 10 meals, and the program is serving 91 families with 210 children, Ms. Foland said.
“Twenty-one thousand meals. That’s a conservative number,” Mr. Costello said. “It’s probably more like 30,000.”
Summer Lunch and Backpack wind down at the end of this month, and Mr. Costello said Joshua volunteers will begin focusing on fall and holiday programs in September.
To learn more, volunteer or donate to the all-volunteer Joshua Project, visit joshuaschoharie.org.