MONTGOMERY, N.Y.—The Regional Food Bank (RFB) announced it will be distributing 115,000 meals to 25,000 Hudson Valley residents for Thanksgiving.
With the help of 800 community volunteers, 30-pound food bags will be distributed at six locations in Hudson Valley’s five counties.
This first-ever Thanksgiving Meal Drive in the Hudson Valley is part of a larger operation by the RFB to hand out 350,000 meals across 21 distribution sites and 23 counties.
People eligible for food assistance, as determined by the RFB, can go to distribution centers on Nov. 22 starting at 10 a.m. to pick up a 30-pound bag filled with food items including turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, vegetables, and other essentials for making a Thanksgiving dinner.
Orange County has two public distribution sites, one at the Regional Food Bank, 580 State Route 416, Montgomery, and the other at Mount Saint Mary College, 330 Powell Avenue, Newburgh. Walk-up prepared meals will be available at the Salvation Army, 234 Van Ness Street, Newburgh. Seniors get special meal distribution at Belvedere Housing in Newburgh.
To be eligible for food handouts, a person’s household income must be at or below 225 percent of the federal poverty level. For a single person, that would mean making less than $35,212 a year. For a family of four, it would mean less than $72,337.
The RFB held an announcement event at its distribution center in Montgomery on Oct. 21, where local political and business figures spoke about the Thanksgiving food distribution.
“[The RFB is] doing God’s work. I’m so proud to be partners with you. The county is very happy to see all the great things that you’re doing here,” County Executive Steve Neuhaus said at the announcement.
“As we head into the holidays is when we get very generous, but we also are going to see more and more of this [food bank services] need to grow. The economy is softening, so we need to continue the momentum. We need to continue to have the volunteers, we need to continue to have the businesses that have challenges where some of their staff come on a weekly or monthly basis, whatever it is that you can do to be part of the food bank team, we want you here.”
RFB CEO Tom Nardacci said that the Thanksgiving Meal Drive in Hudson Valley would not have been possible without the RFB distribution center in the Town of Montgomery. The 50,000-square-foot warehouse was opened in December 2024.
“We built this building with tremendous community support as a promise to do more throughout the Hudson Valley region. We’re only able to make this announcement today because of this facility,” Nardacci said.
A similar Thanksgiving meal drive is ongoing in the capital region, serving 150,000 Thanksgiving meals.
The RFB is a not-for-profit organization that receives large food donations from the food industry and distributes them to more than 1,000 local partners.
The organization serves 23 counties in New York state, stretching from the Hudson Valley to the northeastern end of the state. The RFB serves 350,000 people each month, and it distributed more than 54 million pounds of food in 2024. The RFB partners with and receives donations from major food companies such as ShopRite, Walmart, and Price Chopper.
