In the spring of 1976, Ken Cable, Director of the Council of Churches, Beth Coleman, a nutritionist, Bill Leighton from Catholic Charities and Marion Schick, chair of the Community Affairs committee of the Council met in Ken's office to discuss setting up a warehouse so the pantries who were serving their various communities by giving food to needy families would have a central place to get food for their pantries. Ken contacted the Akel brothers who owned the local Giant Markets and they agreed to sell the Council food at wholesale prices. Also, Ken contacted West Presbyterian Church and they agreed to let the Council use the basement of the carriage house to store the food.  That was the start of the first warehouse.

Scoville Ford donated the first van so food could be delivered to the pantries.  Catholic Charities paid for the gasoline the van used for the first year.  Belknap Lumber donated the shelving for the warehouse.  Ken raised the first five hundred dollars to buy food from individuals, churches and businesses.  The warehouse started operations in the fall of 1976.

Grace Cable and Marion Schick volunteered to run the warehouse and they ordered the food, put it on the shelves and filled the orders from the pantries.  A driver for the van and another man loaded the food into the van and delivered the orders to the various pantries.  George Richards was one of the first men hired to work for CHOW and he is still working with the program helping to feed the hungry.

At the first meeting we did discuss a name and came up with Christian Outreach Warehouse.  Ken stated he was not going to have a "Moo Wagon" so since the program was about feeding the hungry we decided to call it Christian Hunger Outreach Warehouse or CHOW.  Later when some of our other religious friends wanted to help us the name was changed to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse.

To finance the operation we depended on individuals, churches, businesses and community organizations for funding.  After awhile we had twice a year fund raising at the local Giant Markets, which we are still doing.  Round Up came into being as did the Hunger Walk as fundraisers.

The program has expanded with Broome Bounty,  the area's only food recovery program, recovers food from area businesses, such as Akel Wholesale, Sam's Club, Maine's, etc. The recovered food is distributed to independent pantries, food distribution sites, and soup kitchens throughout the community and surrounding communities. The coupons from Round Up give persons who come to the pantries the opportunity to have fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, bread and dairy products in addition to the canned foods and other staples.

The "Community" part of CHOW has proven to be its most critical and most effective component.  From food drives at local schools, our annual Hunger Walk with 700 walkers last year, people filling the CHOW barrels throughout the county, and children in the community turning their birthday parties into CHOW food collections, the community makes CHOW happen.  These grass roots food drives augment the outstanding involvement of local businesses in raising food and funds to keep CHOW operating.  It is truly a community effort to feed our neighbors.

From its humble beginnings CHOW has grown to the point where this year we will probably distribute two million pounds of food.  We have installed a new cooler and freezer to handle the increasing donations of frozen and fresh foods we receive through Broome Bounty, Broome County's only food recovery program.  We now have four trucks to keep food moving in and out of our warehouse.    But it's the hundreds of volunteers and the continued support of many, many people who contribute both food and money on a regular basis that make CHOW and community response to hunger in our area.

An individual or family may receive food by calling:

FIRST CALL FOR HELP at 729-9100

First Call For Help, a referral program of the United Way, will ask a series of questions, including name, address, social security number, dates of birth and phone number. The referral information is sent to the CHOW office located at 3 Otseningo Street, Binghamton. The CHOW referral office will call the client and send them to a pantry that is most convenient for them.

The national statistics on hunger indicates one out of every 10 Americans access a food pantry. Seventy-two percent of those families access food pantries opt to pay their mortgage, rent, utilities, and other bills before purchasing their food. Food is the last item on the family budget.

In the past few years CHOW has seen many families who work at low-paying jobs accessing the program to supplement their food needs. CHOW has also seen a rise in the number of families who had never used CHOW. Family sizes have increased. Mother, daughter, sister, and their children are all living together in order to survive. Without the support of the community, these individuals and families would go hungry.

The participation of local businesses, congregations, schools, etc., is vital to keeping CHOW pantry shelves stocked. You can help by collecting non-perishable food items, volunteering in a local food pantry or soup kitchen, asking the cashier at your local Giant Market to Round Up at the register, or have an event to benefit our neighbors in need.