Once again, the Fredonia community has come together and accepted the challenge to help their neighbor. It has proved itself to be both generous and caring. For 2018, we, the members of the Fredonia Presbyterian Church, received over 4,100 pounds of food for the Challenge.

Over the last year, the Fredonia Food Pantry has served almost 300 people, many of them as regular guests. The total food distributed amounts to over 3,250 meals. The Fredonia Central School District reports that an average of 30 percent of the children qualify for free or reduced price lunches. The need is real and the village didn’t ignore those in need.

So many people, businesses and organizations were responsible for making this effort a success. It is truly a community wide effort. Mayor Athanasia Landis and the village trustees laid the foundation for the effort through their support and endorsement. The Village Hall was once again a drop off point. The OBSERVER provided wonderful support by supporting our publicity efforts each step of the way.

The Fredonia Central School District was a generous supporter of the food collection once again. Many thanks to Superintendent Jeff Sortisio for his support and for the hard work of leaders in every school. Roger Pacos, Amy Hontz, Liz Wronski, Catherine Lowther, Lisa Forbes, Ellen Foley, and Student Council President Jimmy Rush, all made it happen, and undoubtedly many others helped. And we must not forget the children who brought in the food!

SUNY Fredonia also provided vital assistance. In addition to the food collected on campus, the Alpha Phi Omega student service organization and Kappa Sigma helped move the food from the school onto the truck, no mean feat! Their hard work, cooperation and good humor were so welcome on collection day. Thanks to Ms. Joyce Smith of the Volunteer and Community Services Office for her help in coordinating the students’ involvement. And, of course, there were the donations from the campus, which increased this year due to the generosity of many.

Then there were the businesses, offices and individuals who were each a vital building block to our eventual success as they publicized the event and acted as drop off sites. The following were all involved in making the challenge happen: Allstate Insurance, Apnea Care, B & S Discount Tire, Bahgat & Laurito-Bahgat, Barbara Ann’s Hair Salon, Basil Fredonia: Chevrolet Buick Cadillac, Bella Bronze Tanning, Bodell Overcash Anderson, Blue Dragon Inn, Brautigam and Brautigam, The Cakery, Campus & Community Children’s Center, Chautauqua Brick, Comerford Collision, Colley’s Pools, Concord Pharmacy, Cool Little Music Shop, Rose Crino CPA, Culligan Water, The Cutting Crew, Darwin R. Barker Library, DFT Communications, Darwin’s Health Club, Dollar General on East Main Street, Domus Fare, Drayo Law Office, Drop ’til you Shop, Eades & Militello P.C.

EBC West, East Main Cafe, Edward Jones Investments, Facial Expressions, Daniel Faltisco DDS, Final Communications, Fredonia Animal Hospital, Fredonia Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, Fredonia Fire Department, Fredonia Food Mart, Fredonia Opera House, Fredonia Pediatric Dentistry, Fredonia Police Department, Fredonia Place, Fredonia Post Office, Fredonia Pro Hardware, Fredonia Village Hall, Fred’s, Fresh and Fancy Flowers, Gugino & Ryel Financial, Hair Bar, Henry’s Hair Co., Howard Hanna Holt Real Estate, Dr. Steven Ihrig, Inner Lakes FCU, Jamestown Mattress, Jim’s Cleaners, Joseph Price Law Office, Karen’s Hairem, Lady of the Lake, Lake Shore Savings – Fredonia Branch, Lena’s Pizza.

The Liberty, Mayville Tremaine Insurance, Medusa’s, Midtown Realty Co., Moonstruck, M&T Bank, Nationwide Insurance, NYC Hair & Color, The Paper Factory, Patton’s Lighting Center, Pomfret Town Office, Pucci’s Carpet One Furniture & Bedding, Rhythm and Grooves, Salon Belle Vie, Sears Home Town Store, The Sewer’s Choice, Simply Skin Spa, Sir Prints A Lot, Smoke Shop, Soapy Paws, South Paws Signs, State Farm, Tail Waggers, This ‘N That Consignment Shop, Upper Crust Bakery & Soup Co., Vacanti’s Hair & Nail Salon, Valone Ford Lincoln, Valu Home Center, Visions of Elegance Hair Salon, U-Take the Cake and other generous people who just dropped off donations at the church without identifying themselves.

It has been exciting to see the community come together once again to serve those in their community who are in need. It is clear evidence that when we work together, our community can make a difference. We of Fredonia Presbyterian Church are honored to serve in such a community.

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Wickwire Lundquist is pastor of the Fredonia Presbyterian Church.