PCG APRIL 2025 BLOG: Hillside Food Outreach.
- pvillegarden19
- Apr 11
- 3 min read
As we get ready to launch our 11th year of growing, gathering and sharing fresh produce in Pleasantville, we’re excited to profile the amazing work of one of our main donation points, Hillside Food Outreach.
Hillside was founded back in 1997 by Kathleen Purdy, who is Executive Director of the organization. Kathy conceived of the program in honor of her late grandmother – whose kindness and lifelong charity inspired Kathy’s mission to help others. This amazing organization feeds over 2,200 Westchester, Putnam and Fairfield County residents who typically are often elderly, ill and/or undergoing treatment, or have multiple jobs and can't get to a local food pantry.
Back when we planted our very first seeds at St. John’s Episcopal Church in 2014, Hillside was located just around the corner from us in Pleasantville. In order to meet the ever growing demand for nutritious food, they have now expanded into a larger space in Mt. Kisco, which is where our army of PCG volunteers drop off fresh produce every Saturday from April through November, gathered from the Pleasantville Farmers Market.
Through a unique community based partnership with the farmers at our Market each week, Pleasantville High School students (we call our "veggie haulers") collect unsold produce donated by many of the farmers at the end of the market each week. Once the produced is packaged and weighed, our team of PCG volunteers (we call our "veggie drivers") then pick up the bins and transport them up to Hillside for distribution to our neighbors who face food insecurity.
But, wait…there’s more! At the end of the growing season, PCG tally’s the total weight of the produce donated over the course of the season and Hillside, a 501c3 non-profit organization, issues donation receipts to the farmers through the Farmers Market. It’s a win:win for everyone, especially the recipients of healthy, fresh produce. This partnership helps to fill a gap in the food pantry options, which tend to focus primarily on shelf stable foods, like pasta, rice and canned foods.
Kathy explains it this way, “Since the beginning, Hillside recognized a nutrient gap that was created by the food pantry model and the impact of this gap on the health impact of the individual. Without the addition of nutritious, vitamin-rich fresh fruits and vegetables to the diet, those suffering from food insecurity cannot thrive.”
An estimated 10% percent of Westchester County residents currently face food insecurity. Kathy learned through her grandmother’s experience that many seniors are often faced with the daunting struggle of choosing between buying medicine or food. She says that even though her grandmother was well into her 80’s, and had sufficient resources to live comfortably, she still appeared to be struggling. “I soon discovered my grandmother was sharing her food and essentials with neighbors who couldn’t make ends meet.” Kathy couldn’t continue to see her grandmother bear such a burden.
This is a story that has become all too familiar today and is especially urgent since the pandemic. What began as a micro-endeavor to feed a few seniors in their early 90’s has grown into an essential food-to-client delivery organization, serving thousands of neighbors in need, each and every month.
We are honored to partner with wonderful community organizations like Hillside to help end food insecurity, especially for such a vulnerable population. Just since 2020, and in partnership with the amazing farmers at the Pleasantville Farmers Market, PCG has grown, gathered and shared an impressive 22,500+ pounds of fresh, locally grown produce with Hillside for those in need.
If you’re interested in learning more about their work, joining forces with Hillside Food Outreach or working with us at PCG, we are always looking for more volunteers! See links below to view the opportunities available:
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