Food pantries and soup kitchens are still in great need of donations to keep up with demand during the pandemic. For those who have extras in their cupboards, hundreds and thousands of families are relying on you for their next meal.

The best way to donate to food drives around the area seems to have a common method, which is just dropping food off to the sites during open hours or by appointment, but some only accept during open hours. The local food banks and soup kitchens are listed below with their preferred drop-off procedures.

Westfield Food Pantry: 101 E Main St, Westfield, 326-3243. They are open Tuesday from 1-2:30, and Wednesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. They take drop off donations directly to the pantry.

Brocton Portland Food Pantry: 7063 W Main Rd, Portland, 326-2492. Open Tuesday and Thursday 1-4 p.m., food may be dropped off during the open hours or an appointment can be made if outside open hours.

Cassadaga Food Pantry: 25 Maple Ave, Cassadaga, 595-8718. Open Thursday 8 a.m. to noon, other days by appointment/emergency need. Food may be dropped off during open hours or by appointment if necessary.

Salvation Army: 704 Central Ave, Dunkirk, 366-3701. Delivery only, Monday-Friday. Call to schedule delivery. Food donations are being accepted during open hours 9 a.m-12p.m., directly to the facility.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Dunkirk, 366-1750. Open Wednesdays from 3-7 p.m. Food may be dropped off during open hours.

Chautauqua County Rural Ministry, 319 Washington Ave, Dunkirk, 366-2230, Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Food pantry and hot meals, meals served on weekends. Food donations are accepted during open hours directly at the facility.

Neighbor to Neighbor Food Pantry: 9495 Prospect Rd., Forestville, 257-6081, Tuesday 9 a.m. 5 p.m, other days by appointment. Food donations accepted during open hours and by appointment.

Forestville Food Pantry: 3 Park St, Forestville, 965-2655, Thursday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Donations being accepted during open hours or by appointment if necessary.

Ripley Food Pantry: 14 N State St, Ripley, 736-4386 Tuesday 2-4, Saturday 10 a.m. to noon. Food donations being accepted during open hours.

Donations can also be made to the United Way of Northern Chautauqua County, but anything they receive trickles down to the individual food pantries around the area, so they encourage people to donate directly to pantries.

Any large scale donations are encouraged to go through the United Way, though, so they can be spread throughout the county and to all pantries in the area, according to Adam Dolce, executive director of the United Way of Northern Chautauqua County.

“We’ve identified some resources to provide larger scale donations, for example, recently we received a donation of 1,000 gallons of milk and they were all spread out to each pantry, before the sell-by date!” Dolce said.