Carver Center’s Farmer’s Market helps feed residents in need
October 10, 2024 at 1:38 a.m.
Every week, King Street resident Perly Rodriguez meets with a group of her friends in the Carver Center cafeteria for breakfast.
“It’s a ritual for us,” she said on Saturday, Oct. 5. “It’s a place we can always count on providing a meal for people who need it. But today we were completely surprised.”
King Street Elementary School first-grader Sofia Castro seeks out the best-looking potato to take back to her home on Haseco Avenue.By David Tapia
That day, the parking lot of the 400 Westchester Ave. community center was home to the first Farmer’s Market of the year.
It’s an event hosted in association with the organization Food Web, where volunteers distributed seasonal vegetables and toiletries to residents of Westchester registered with the Carver Market.
“I really couldn’t believe it,” Rodriguez said. “This is incredibly helpful to my family.”
She and her family were one of the 262 households that collected several bags of fresh produce on Saturday.
“It’s a way for us to supplement our nutrition program,” Director of Carver Market and Retail Recovery Giovanny Rodriguez said during a conversation in his office on Monday, Oct. 7. “We had food donated through Feeding Westchester and other local organizations that suited the season and invited people to take what they need.”
The offerings featured a spread of fall fruits and vegetables including corn, apples and kale.
Oak Street resident Milbia Ecal said it would provide support in feeding her 9-month-old son, Melvin.
“This kind of thing is really great for the families here,” she said at the event. “It’s the kind of help that everyone could use here.”
The Carver Market director said the event was scheduled to provide the most needed assistance based on trends observed.
Sam Kroin, a 20-year-old volunteer from Harrison, helps Perly Rodriguez of King Street bag some onions.By David Tapia
“We’ve noticed that there are periods of the year where we see surges in participation at the market,” he said. “For whatever reason, there’s one at the start of the summer and there’s one around late September. Households are only able to stop by our market once a week, so we wanted to give people an event where we could offer some extra help.”
By the end of the two-hour-long event, volunteers and Carver Center employees distributed 6,944 pounds of food.
“I would say that’s a success for a short event like that,” Rodriguez said. “It’s definitely what we wanted to see and it’s a promising sign for our next event and the market.”
The Carver food market is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Registration can be done onsite.
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