From left are UNICO board member John DiNapoli, Holy Trinity-West Orange Food Pantry administrator Cynthia Cumming and Orange-West Orange UNICO President Frank Paolercio.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — President of the Orange-West Orange UNICO Frank Paolercio and board member John DiNapoli stopped by the Holy Trinity-West Orange Food Pantry on Aug. 26 to present a $1,000 grant award.
The pantry, located at 315 Main St. in West Orange, has been providing food since 2002. Currently, the pantry provides food to approximately 500 people — 150 families — comprised of children, seniors, homeless, disabled, unemployed and underemployed persons, all dealing with the issue of hunger insecurity.
Food pantry administrator Cynthia Cumming was recognized by UNICO at their annual breakfast on Feb. 21 with the Ben L. Spinelli Award for Community Service.
“I was surprised and honored to receive the award,” Cumming said in a press release. “UNICO is such an integral part of the West Orange community and it meant a lot that they recognized my efforts to grow and develop the pantry so we can continue to serve our clients.”
At the breakfast, Paolercio mentioned to Cumming that UNICO offered grants for pantries and he dropped off an application.
“I try to take advantage of grant-writing opportunities,” Cumming said, “because our financial donations are not consistent.”
In mid-August, Paolercio contacted Cumming to advise that UNICO had awarded the pantry a grant for $1,000.
“We were happy to give the pantry the grant and help them out,” Paolercio said in the release.
“What they’re doing here is a good thing,” DiNapoli said.
To find out more about the Orange-West Orange UNICO, visit http://orangewestorangeunico.com/.
To find out more about the Holy Trinity-West Orange Food Pantry, visit http://holytrinitywo.org/food-pantry.
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