In Ancram, Neighbors Help Neighbors

As Jose Ayala rolls the van up to the Ancramdale Presbyterian Church Parish Hall, half a dozen volunteers spring into action. They begin unloading boxes filled with dry goods, canned items, and frozen meat, chicken and fish. There are also frozen blueberries, peaches, yogurt and apples. For each of the 16 families being served the week of July 29, as well as several couples and individuals, there’s a tub for food on the folding wooden tables, with a large cardboard box beneath it. The volunteers have already packed the boxes with staples; now they carefully place the frozen foods at the bottom of the tubs, topping them off with fresh produce.

Every Monday, the nonprofit Ancramdale Neighbors Helping Neighbors Association (ANHNA), known locally as Neighbors Helping Neighbors, distributes approximately 2,300 pounds of food throughout the region. Ayala, who runs a local landscaping business, is now contracted by ANHNA to make the weekly food deliveries. “I do this because I like people,” he said. “I live in this town, I care about my town, and I like to help my town. What’s better than helping people?”

In addition to running the food pantry, ANHNA supplies breakfasts and lunches for all of the kids in Ancram’s summer camp; provides school supplies every fall for elementary school students and teachers; holds an annual Holiday Adopt-a-Family program for clothing and other gifts; and offers emergency financial help for families facing unforeseen expenses such as moving costs, security deposits, utilities, as well as home and car repairs.

Fourteen years ago, after the financial crisis of 2008, ANHNA started distributing food to a few families in need in Ancram, operating out of Jack Lindsey and Bob Murphy’s home. When Dutchess County social service workers became aware of the resource, they referred some families. Almost all new clients now come by word of mouth.

“We moved to Ancram 20 years ago,” said Lindsey. “We retired from working full-time, we were looking for somewhere smaller and more affordable, where we could give to the community. After 2008, we really wanted to help through giving of our time even more than money.” Murphy added, “It has also been wonderful to be a part of something that brings outsiders — people who have not lived in Ancram all their lives— together with locals.”

By 2012, Neighbors was ready to join New York’s Northeast Regional Food Bank out of Albany, its largest supplier. That required access to a state-certified kitchen, sanitation and refrigeration. Through contacts with families in the Ancramdale Presbyterian congregation, a win-win arrangement was worked out for Neighbors to rent part of the Parish Hall space. In 2022, the Town Board designated most of its federal COVID American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide Neighbors with a van and to pay for a driver.

The food pantry is Neighbors’ biggest program, representing about half of its expenses. An annual fundraising drive now brings in over $40,000 in support from individuals, and more is leveraged from state funds.

“There’s enough blueberries for everyone!” Lindsey cried, directing volunteers to fill the tubs and boxes with food, refill the freezer with meat and chicken for next week, and restock the pantry with boxes of non-perishables.

Phil Haynes, the manager of Sky High Farm, which just joined the supply chain, has pulled up a truck loaded with vegetables and herbs. “Donating food is not a long-term solution to food insecurity, but we can still make an impact on people’s quality of life,” Haynes said. “Ultimately, we at Sky High are working on ways to make systematic changes — supporting independent, small growers working on a local level.” 

One of the volunteers drives his own van, filled with 16 CSA boxes from Rock Steady Farm in Millerton. On Thursdays, Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy delivers however many gallons of milk Neighbors orders for the Monday pickup. Chaseholm, Herrondale, Thompson-Finch, Linda Pulver, Bob Roche, Woody Baxter and other local farms and farmers have regularly helped with the food pantry. There is an annual SW Mill food drive. There are special boxes put together for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The Ancram pantry is also regularly able to share stock with Hillsdale’s Roe Jan food pantry and with Willow Roots in Pine Plains; if those services have emergency needs, they can call Ancram anytime.

“I got involved through then Neighbors president Adrienne Citrin,” said Mike Sturdivant.  “She’d pass my house on her daily walks, we got to talking, and I volunteered for the Holiday Food Basket program. That’s how I met Jack and the others. When a vacancy on the board came up, they invited me to join and I gladly accepted. Adrienne created and ran the grant program, and when she passed away in 2019, I was fortunate to be placed on the committee and continue the good work.”

Since 2013, Neighbors has awarded 71 grants to help Town of Ancram students attend universities, community colleges or vocational schools full time. The 2024 winners are:

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• Amya Anderson, who will complete studies at Columbia-Greene Community College (CGCC) this fall and start at SUNY Empire State in the spring of 2025. She is an early childhood education major and plans to receive a state teaching certificate.
• Aidan Damon, who will enter his sophomore year at SUNY Oneonta in the fall, pursuing a criminal justice degree.  
• Matthew Damon, a CGCC graduate who is transferring to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts to pursue a B.A. in history and New York teaching certification.
• Emily Mason, who transferred from CGCC to the University of Albany, where she will be a senior, majoring in psychology. She hopes to get a master’s in mental health counseling.
• Julia Thomas, a 2024 graduate of Taconic Hills High School who will start at the University of Vermont this fall. She expects to major in animal science, with the goal of specializing in equine veterinary medicine.

Grants are named in memory of Citrin and of Sally Berg, also an Ancram charitable volunteer. Throughout the year, Neighbors awards additional grants; in 2023–24, these have enabled an honors high school student to attend college classes, provided tutoring in math and English to a local student with autism, and helped a working mother attend vocational classes to gain a better job and higher wages.

Hila Richardson moved to Ancram part-time in 1983 and made it fulltime in 2014. “If you live in Ancram for a while, you know Jack,” she said, and in 2019 Lindsey reached out to her to join him as co-chair. With a professional background in public health and service on the board of Columbia Memorial Hospital, Richardson was immediately drawn to Neighbors’ social services and healthcare assistance for food pantry families and others in need.

When COVID hit in spring 2020, and there was soon little or no personal protective equipment available, Richardson started a mask program. She got 40 yards of donated fabric and got eight volunteers busy sewing. “We set up a big bin at the fire station, where people could drop off or pick up cloth and drop off completed masks,” she said. “In a few months, we distributed 500 masks to the hospital, to area nursing homes and to individuals.”

The next year, she initiated a Safe Sitters program, training girls and a few boys ages 7 to 14, to be better able to babysit for siblings, other family members and clients. Last summer, Neighbors started a Community Resources Information Session  for the elderly, to make sure they knew about Columbia County resources for in-home help, transportation, prescription assistance and Medicare/Medicaid navigation. Neighbors also offers financial assistance with medical co-pays.

Aware of the regional shortage of healthcare staff, Richardson is working to promote a Careers in Medical Assistance entry point. Neighbors wants to support residents in Ancram (including Ancramdale and Boston Corners) in advancing current careers or starting new ones with an associate’s degree in applied science from CGCC and with job opportunities at CMH. “I want to get people engaged in doing things that will help them — get a degree, get a higher salary, provide for their family — and that will help benefit all of the people around them,” Richardson said.

“It is everybody’s responsibility in a community to help each other. Some can give financially, some can volunteer, some can be mentors, some can help connect to others in need of services.”

As Lindsey put it, “The Neighbors model is to keep it simple. Everybody can use a hand from time to time. We say, ‘If you need our help, please call.’”

For more information and to get involved, contact Jack Lindsey at 518-329-7306 or Hila Richardson at 917-414-8270.