Stop & Shop collected food donations in an effort to help those in need around Westchester this holiday season.

Before the pandemic, the nonprofit group Feeding Westchester served about 150,000 families a month. Now, they are serving about 100,000 more.

The pandemic had already increased the need for help, as has inflation.

“There are people for whom more dollars are coming out of their pocket to pay for gasoline at the pump or to pay for housing costs,” says Westchester County Executive George Latimer. “That puts more pressure on the family budget, and more pressure on the individual, who is maybe working a couple jobs to make ends meet."

For the past week, Stop & Shop collected donations at its stores in Westchester - and 6,500 pounds of food was dropped off to Feeding Westchester Monday.

That equals 3,000 meals for families who are struggling to put food on the table.

"We've got so many families here in Westchester that really are struggling, and it's the families that you just don't think about,” says Bali Lambie-Boyer, of Feeding Westchester.

Visit FeedingWestchester.org if you'd like to get involved either through donating or volunteering this holiday season.