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Foodlink re-enacts first donation to commemorate 40th anniversary

A donation of English muffins is loaded onto a truck in Rochester this morning as Foodlink re-enacts its initial donation in 1978.
Foodlink
A donation of English muffins is loaded onto a truck in Rochester this morning as Foodlink re-enacts its initial donation in 1978.

Foodlink is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

On December 19, 1978, founder Tom Ferraro put out a call to the community for food donations, and the manager at the Thomas' English Muffins warehouse answered the call by giving Ferraro enough English muffins to fill a school bus.

Current Foodlink President and CEO Julia Tedesco says Ferraro established what was one of the first regional foodbanks in the U.S. at the time.

"He saw there was an incredible abundance of food and there was no mechanism to get it to people in need. It simply was dumped at the time; there wasn't any other incentive. Yet, he saw an increase in the need at emergency food pantries in Rochester."

In 1978, there were 3 food pantries serving Rochester. Today there are over 90.

Later today, Foodlink workers will re-enact Ferraro's first donation by delivering English muffins to St. Peter's Soup Kitchen on Brown Street.

Click on the LISTEN link above to hear an interview with Julia Tedesco.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.