A $25,000 Opportunity to Double Olean Food Pantry’s Community Impact

(Editor’s note: The following is the last in a four-part series of op-eds by Olean Food Pantry board members in preparation for the Season of Giving. It appeared first in the Olean Times Herald and was featured in several other prominent local/regional news outlets.)

By David Potter
Olean Food Pantry Board President

We have work to do. Giving Tuesday (aka Cattaraugus Gives Day) on Dec. 3 is the perfect time to do it.

By now, you’ve likely learned of the $25,000 grant recently given to Olean Food Pantry by a local family foundation that chose to stay anonymous. As much as we’ve wanted to proudly thank their generosity toward our $1 Million Fundraising Campaign, we also respect the community challenge behind it.

“Solving hunger isn’t about heroes,” the donor told me. “It’s about solutions. These solutions require all of us.” This donor has a stipulation: to double their impact. For small nonprofits like ours, funding leverages more funding. Olean Food Pantry must raise $25,000 more for Cattaraugus Gives Day as a match component to the anonymous grant.    

That’s where you come in. Save our Cattaraugus Gives link here to donate Dec. 3: www.cattaraugusgives.org/organizations/olean-food-pantry-inc. OFP is on the front lines of a serious war on hunger – one that has seen the community need more than double since 2020. It’s fitting now to have an opportunity to double our impact accordingly.

The Season of Giving is especially important in our rural Western New York communities. We’re often far from the minds of big-money philanthropists and decision-makers.

If we rise to the occasion, our community could generate $50,000 to help us not only feed people in need, but also address the systemic causes of hunger and poverty.

Our fundraising campaign was launched earlier this year to commemorate Olean Food Pantry’s 70th anniversary. It’s more than just a stopgap for growing rates of food insecurity. We’re leveraging every dollar from generous donors, including grant funding like this, to make a lasting impact that goes far beyond stocking shelves.

It’s heartbreaking, but not surprising, to see the growing numbers of families turning to us for help. These are families caught in tough times, parents between jobs, people grappling with substance-use disorders, or people working multiple jobs who still can’t make ends meet. They’re not always who you’d expect.

When it comes to priorities, however, people often don’t recognize hunger as the cause of many other community problems. Food insecurity and poverty are two parts of the same vicious cycle. If resolved, other issues – from kids’ academic performance to mental health – also improve in lockstep.

The real challenge is solving the underlying problems that cause so many to struggle: poverty, unemployment, housing instability and lacking economic opportunity in our region. 

Our $1 Million Fundraising Campaign is a long-term strategy to invest in community partnerships and lead the discussion to improve community resources. Unfortunately, fundraising in our area is often harder than it should be. One great challenge small nonprofits face is that too many well-meaning efforts are short-sighted. It’s easy to misplace the big picture when we focus solely on immediate, visible needs. Many nonprofits are too overburdened and under-resourced to think much beyond fixing symptoms. 

The anonymous $25,000 grant is a clear reminder that we can no longer be short-sighted. The donor family behind it recognizes our community must take ownership of our hunger crisis. 

With additional funding and a healthy discussion around improving community systems, we can help people before they fall into crisis. The problems we face here are real, but so is the potential to solve them.

As we enter this Season of Giving, please remember Olean Food Pantry for Cattaraugus Gives.

(David Potter is president of the Olean Food Pantry Board of Directors. He can be reached at oleanfoodpantry@yahoo.com.)