Food Bank for Westchester’s 7th Annual Hunger Heroes Awards Breakfast Honors White Plains Woman

Thirty three years ago, in 1979, after White Plains resident Lorraine Buonocunto retired from her career as an xray technician, she became involved with the organization SHORE, which helps the homeless find housing. She realized the people they were trying to help needed food as well as shelter.

So every week, Lorraine and her friends loaded her station wagon with food and drove it into downtown White Plains to feed people. That is how the Ecumenical Emergency Food Pantry began. A year later, the pantry found a home at St. Matthew’s Church and Lorraine became the Executive Director, a volunteer position she holds to this day.

Currently, the pantry operates out of the Thomas Slater Center, where it now serves 1,016 people every month. Homebound hungry people registered with the pantry receive home delivery of their food.

 Over the years, Lorraine has cultivated a loyal team of volunteers, a total of 42 men

And women, many of whom have been with her for more than 20 years. One team of volunteers works at the pantry every Thursday, packing food into bags to be distributed to the hungry. A second team works every Friday to distribute the food. Fridays are happy days at the pantry, as clients arrive to get their food and Lorraine and her volunteers greet them cheerfully.

Lorraine not only runs the pantry, she works with various government agencies and community groups to raise funds and promote the program and to keep things running smoothly.

Lorraine lives by the belief that, “You have to feed the body but you also need to feed the soul,” and she helps people in many other ways: by hiring homeless men to work at the pantry to help them transition into permanent jobs; by connecting others to housing opportunities; and by introducing a pastor, rabbi or priest for counseling. Lorraine’s heart is huge, and her positive impact is immeasurable. She does whatever it takes to help those who need it. She is truly a Hunger Hero.

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