At Yonkers Public Library’s (YPL) Riverfront Library in Downtown Yonkers, neighbors come to read, learn, use computers, spend time with their children and connect with community resources.
What some don’t know is that they can also come for groceries.
During a recent visit, Feeding Westchester spent time with Jesse Montero (Director), Sandy Amoyaw (Riverfront Branch Administrator), and Oz Coto-Chang (Head of Children’s Services), who showed us how the library’s food pantry has grown into a welcoming and reliable resource for families across Yonkers.
The team describes it simply as a food pantry inside a library.
That distinction says a lot about the experience they have created.
The pantry operates right inside the library with the level of decorum and organization that you would expect. Neighbors sign in, receive a number and can spend time in the library while they wait. When their number is called, they “check out” at the front desk, by selecting foods that work for their household rather than receiving a prepackaged box.
It is an approach centered on choice, comfort and dignity.
Families have different tastes, dietary needs and circumstances. Giving neighbors the opportunity to choose what they bring home recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to hunger.
During our visit, we saw milk, eggs, potatoes, plums, applesauce, beans, frozen chicken and other grocery staples. The pantry also had essentials for families with young children, including formula, diapers and baby wipes.
Behind the scenes, an impressive operation makes that experience possible.
What began as a smaller school pantry offering Balanced Bites (nutritious, kid-friendly food packages designed to help children and families access healthy meals), has steadily expanded with support from Feeding Westchester. As the pantry grew, so did its ability to receive and distribute more food, including fresh produce and items recovered through Retail Recovery.
The pantry is open Monday through Friday, making it the only Feeding Westchester community partner that operates a pantry every weekday.
That consistency is especially important for neighbors who may be balancing work, school, transportation, childcare and other responsibilities.
In some months, the pantry supports as many as 700 households. On busy days, Sandy shared that 80 families come through the doors. Since the partnership expanded to include a food pantry model in June 2024, the library has distributed 179,000 pounds of food, and is now offering about 15,000 pounds of food per month.
To keep up with that demand, the library has dedicated significant space to the operation. One large storage room holds food for daily distributions and Retail Recovery items. Another area contains refrigerators and freezers for fresh and frozen foods. The team shared that additional cold storage capacity would allow them to receive and distribute even more.
Feeding Westchester has also adjusted its delivery schedule to support the pantry’s growth. While regular Yonkers deliveries take place on Mondays, YPL receives an additional dedicated delivery on Tuesdays each week.
Throughout the visit, the team emphasized how important the partnership with Feeding Westchester has been in helping them expand what they can provide to the community.
But what stood out most was not the amount of food in storage or the complexity of the operation.
It was how normal the experience felt.
There was no sense of one group giving and another receiving. Neighbors could walk into a place they already know, spend time in the library and access food alongside other community resources.
Anyone who needs the pantry can sign up, and participating households can visit once each week.
That accessibility reflects a larger vision the team shared with us. Yonkers Public Library is becoming more than a place to borrow books. It is becoming a community center.
Libraries have always helped people access knowledge, opportunity and connection. This pantry builds on that role by recognizing another fundamental resource neighbors need to learn, grow and thrive: nutritious food.
It is also a reminder that solutions to hunger can begin in places that already sit at the heart of our neighborhoods.
When trusted community spaces, committed staff and strong partnerships come together, they can make support easier to reach and more comfortable to receive.
At YPL, nourishing minds and nourishing neighbors are becoming part of the same story.
