Olean Food Pantry Fighting Food Insecurity

A Resource for Healthy Food in Our Communities

Mission & Vision

Our mission: As a 100% volunteer-run organization, the Olean Food Pantry provides food security by offering choices of healthy, nutritious food. In cooperation with the community, we empower individuals through education, resources and knowledge to promote opportunities to become self-sufficient.

Our vision: A community without food insecurity.

The Olean Food Pantry is run entirely by volunteers. We have no paid staff. Every shift, from stocking shelves to keeping the books, is covered by people from our community who give their time.

What We Do

The Olean Food Pantry is the largest food pantry in Cattaraugus County, both in the number of people we serve and in how much food we give out. In 2025, we had 23,573 visits and gave out more than 127,000 days’ worth of food. Anyone in New York State who meets the income guidelines can shop with us. Our shoppers include working parents, seniors on fixed incomes, people with disabilities and people between jobs.

Our pantry is set up like a small grocery store. We don’t hand people a pre-packed box. Shoppers grab a cart and pick out the food their family will actually eat, with a volunteer there to help. Each person can take home six days of food per visit, twice a month. That’s more food per person than any other pantry in our area. Once a month, the FeedMore WNY Mobile Food Pantry truck comes to the pantry with extra fresh produce and groceries.

We also give out free diapers, pet food, Birthday Bags, and Thanksgiving dinners. Last year we gave out 650 Thanksgiving food packages!

Behind the pantry, our garden and greenhouse grow fresh vegetables and herbs for our shelves. Thanks to the greenhouse, they grow almost all year. Community members can also use garden space to grow their own food.

Board Members

Kathleen Donovan - President

Kathleen is the Senior Social Media and Public Relations Coordinator for Cutco Corporation and joined the board in the summer of 2022. She also is a member of the YMCA of the Twin Tiers Association Board and graduated from Leadership Cattaraugus in 2010. Kathleen, who has always lived in Western New York, is happy to call Olean home.

Rich Esposito - Vice President

Rich has 30 years experience in technology consulting at Fortune 100 companies, driving ecommerce, data center cloud migrations, and digital commerce and marketing programs. He has a Masters and a Bachelors degree in Operations Research Engineering from Cornell University. Rich’s community interests involve those organizations that expand the capacity of the community to grow and develop through education, personal finance, and business growth.

Nick Hamed - Treasurer

Nick is a CPA who works at Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, P.C. as a Tax Supervisor. He attended Fredonia State University where he graduated with a BS degree in Accounting and Finance. Nick went on to earn his MBA with a concentration in accounting at Saint Bonaventure University. When he’s not crunching numbers, you can find Nick trying to fix his slice, and spending time with friends and family.

Grace Butler - Secretary

Grace is an Accounting Support Specialist at Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, P.C. Grace brings nearly 10 years of experience in the finance and insurance industry, including prior experience at Olean General Hospital, NILICO, Community Bank, and M & T Bank. Grace holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from State University of New York at Oswego.

Fred Welch

Fred Welch previously served as the director of the Challenger Learning Center from June 2013 till June 2019. He attended Geneseo State University where he graduated with a BA degree in Mathematics in 1980 before earning a master’s degree in Education at St. Bonaventure University. He began his teaching career as a mathematics instructor at Cuba Central School before accepting a position at Olean Junior High/Olean Middle School where he taught computer literacy/programming and technology for 30 years. He also started the engineering curriculum known as Project Lead the Way (PLTW) at Olean High School.

Jay King

Jay is the CEO of King 6 Enterprises. His career also includes high-level leadership roles such as Vice President of Sales Operations at Siemens Energy and Dresser-Rand Company, where he spearheaded global digital transformations, supply chain strategies, and cross-functional team alignment. He holds a BS in Engineering/Management from Clarkson University and an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University. Jay is actively dedicated to community leadership, serving for nearly 15 years as a school board member for Allegany Limestone Central School District. Jay joined the Olean Food Pantry board in December 2024.

Betsy Bathurst

Betsy joined the Olean Food Pantry board in 2023. She is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, with over 25 years of working with non-profits. Employed by Cutco Corporation, Betsy resides in Olean and is the proud mother of two sons, Wil and Kamdyn.

Jamie Kohn

Bio coming soon

Don Meyer

Don came to the Olean Food Pantry from Dresser-Rand, a Siemens Business. He retired in 2020 after 43 years with the company. He holds two degrees (Mechanical Engineering and Information Technology) and provides his expertise to the programming and Information Technology needs of the Olean Food Pantry. He currently works in the Safety/Security office at Holiday Valley during the ski season. He graduated in the 2013 class of Leadership Cattaraugus. Don currently resides in Great Valley with his wife, Theresa, and their two dogs.

Skip Wilday

Skip has over 40 years of experience as a financial advisor and Executive Director for Morgan Stanley’s Olean Office. He is a Member of Morgan Stanley’s President and Chairman’s Council. Skip is a Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist℠ and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Muskingum College. He is active on many community boards, including the Gow School, Jamestown Community College, Cuba Lake Yacht Club, and Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation

Don Jones

Don is the Project Data Management Team Manager at Siemens Energy in Olean. He previously worked for 26 years for Dresser Rand, including roles as the SWAT Leader for Engineering, Supervisor for the BOM Planning Group, and as a Technical Illustrator. Don has served on the board of Cattaraugus Community Action and the United Way of Cattaraugus County.

Key Volunteers

Jerry Hustak, Operations Manager

In 1987, Jerry accepted a job offer from Dresser-Rand and relocated to Olean with his wife, Faith. He graduated from Leadership Cattaraugus in 2015, where he found out about volunteer opportunities at the Olean Food Pantry. In 2017, after 34 years of service with Dresser-Rand, he retired and became the Operations Manager of the Olean Food Pantry. Currently he is a member of the YMCA Facilities Committee and the Leadership Team for Christ United Methodist Church. He graduated from Penn State with a Mechanical Engineering Degree.

Dave Potter

David Potter is the recent-past President of the Olean Food Pantry. Dave is retired from Potter Lumber Company in Allegany, NY. In addition to the Olean Food Pantry, he is also the Secretary of the YMCA of the Twin Tiers Association Board, a member of the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation Advisory Committee and a member of the NY Lumberman’s Insurance Trust Fund Advisory Board. Dave is a former Town Councilman for the Town of Allegany, past chairman of the Cattaraugus County Micro Development Loan Fund and past president of Northeastern Loggers Association, as well as other lumber industry trade associations. He is an alumnus of St. Bonaventure University. Dave enjoys skiing, spending time with family and friends, traveling and cooking. He is married to Eva and proud father of Eric and Sydney.

Ashley Greeley

Ashley is an administrative assistant at Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, P.C. and served as an Olean Food Pantry board member as Secretary from 2020 – early 2026. Ashley graduated from University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a minor in Marketing. While she is not working or serving the board, Ashley spends her time with her horse, playing softball for the Olean Woman’s League, and playing league volleyball at the YMCA.

Our Partners

Bethany Lutheran Church is our neighbor and founding partner. The pantry started in 1954 when a women’s group from Bethany Lutheran Church began distributing food to individuals referred by Social Services, eventually expanding into an independent nonprofit organization. Today, the church graciously allows us to host our monthly pet food pantry in their building so we can follow food safety requirements.

FeedMore WNY is our regional food bank. Most of the food on our shelves comes through FeedMore at a deep discount, thanks to food donated by large wholesalers and to government grants. FeedMore also runs the Mobile Food Pantry truck that visits us each month. Visit FeedMore WNY.

Canticle Farm is a nonprofit farm in Allegany. It sends us its extra fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs, which go straight onto our produce shelves. Thanks to Canticle Farm, our shoppers can take home fresh, locally grown food. Visit Canticle Farm.

Every Bottom Covered provides the free diapers we give to families with young children.

Local growers and grocers including BJs, Walmart, Tops, Jim’s Park and Shop, and the Olean Food Barn donate extra food and produce that would otherwise go to waste.

Olean Food Pantry Needs Your Help

The Olean Food Pantry has seen a 95.4% increase in food recipients the last 3 years. Will you answer the call for this increased need?

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