On some days, families are waiting outside the doors, long before the Valatie Ecumenical Food Pantry opens.

“I feel bad that so many people need help, but then I feel happy that we can be there to help them,” said Pat DiGrigoli, head of the pantry.

The pantry serves people in the various communities of the Ichabod Crane School District.

Recently, a pantry representative told the Kinderhook Village Board that they’ve been running out of certain staples and had to ask people to come back later.

“I knew that there probably was– I figured that there was probably no abundance of supplies, but I didn’t know that the need was that dire,” said Kinderhook Mayor Dorene Weir.

The mayor said that broke their hearts.

Neighbors helping neighbors, the village will be now be collecting donations in a food drive this Saturday.

“Our community is very good about reaching out when called upon,” said the mayor.

The food pantry is grateful for all the generosity– the weekly supplies from the Masons, Hannaford, local businesses, and school teams.

They still have a lot of food. The shelves are not empty, but things like cereal and soup go fast, especially for big families.

There are also more clients to feed now. Last month’s numbers show 100 more this year alone.

“We’re seeing a lot of new families that we hadn’t seen before, who sometimes are very apologetic for coming– that they just lost their job. We understand completely,” said DiGrigoli. “The price of groceries or the price of gas, the price of heating oil, the price of everything… it’s not just the food.”

They want to make sure people feel comfortable accepting help in tough times and taking what they need, for whatever reason.

“We had just recently, I got a check from someone who said that we had helped them out a few years ago when they had lost their job and they just wanted to pay us back this time,” said DiGrigoli.

The dropoff for donations will be from 9am to 1pm Saturday in the circular driveway at 25 Broad Street in Kinderhook at the old school that is now a gallery.

They are looking for non-perishable items, including ketchup, cereal, pasta, cooking oil, and soup.