Willow Roots co-founder shares emotional journey to new pantry site

PINE PLAINS— It’s taken more than seven months and many sleepless nights for Lisa and Nelson Zayas to find a way to move their home-grown food pantry, Willow Roots, from 23 North Main St. in Pine Plains to 7730 South Main St. Though only a few mere blocks in a town the size of a pinprick on most maps, the move itself was monumental to the couple.

“We were so touched with joy in our hearts, we both started to tear up,” said Lisa when she spoke of the pantry’s new space, which just celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday, March 21 (see article this page). “This is something stories are made out of, that movies are made of, it’s a miracle. We felt touched; we absolutely cried that night.”

That’s because since last September the Zayases have been battling neighbors on Carla Terrace, which backs up on their North Main Street home where Willow Roots has been distributing food from for the past two years every Saturday morning from 11 a.m. to noon. A number of residents there complained about increased traffic and noise due to pantry clients and food deliveries, taking the issue to the Pine Plains Planning Board. They charged that Willow Roots didn’t have the proper permits and wasn’t zoned for operating in a residential neighborhood. That issue is still pending before the town. The issue was covered by this newspaper in a series of articles. Those articles brought an immediate flood of calls, emails and texts to Willow Roots and to the Zayases, who said they were overwhelmed by the show of support.

“It was because of your paper,” said Lisa of the final outcome, which has been especially gratifying after being “blindsided” by what she described as her neighbors’ “lack of sympathy and lack of compassion” at her and her husband’s mission to feed people who had gone hungry — particularly challenging during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We just felt that we had to act,” she said. “We didn’t realize that anyone would be upset that we were helping people who came to us who had lost their jobs or who couldn’t feed their families. I guess we were naive. We didn’t think anyone would be upset or that we would need a permit; we didn’t do any of this to win medals. We just did this quietly.”

Despite the litigation, Lisa said she is “so grateful this is how the end came out.

“It would have been nice if [our neighbors] came and we discussed their complaints, but because your paper came and did the articles, we are where we are and got to this spot. It got us to this point and I couldn’t be any happier. I’ve got a great landlord, wonderful space, the community has embraced us; 20 of the most amazing volunteers came last week with a flatbed to move us… this is a great community.”

She doesn’t fault the Planning Board, either, but rather praised it for doing its job. 

“I don’t want to be bitter,” she said. “I’m a little sad they didn’t come to us and talk to us [about their issue with the pantry].

“I have to tell you that the community, they definitely were so overwhelmingly positive and no nonsense. They said, ‘we will get you out of there.’ People from everywhere reached out: old friends outside the area, there was an outpouring of concern. It was so incredible,- the outrage of someone doing this to us. People asked, ‘why are they picking on you?’” said Lisa, adding a number of spaces were considered. “This is a small town. Literally everyone was talking about it, saying, ‘you’re on the front page,’ and reaching out to us on Facebook. Young and old alike — not one age group was not worried about us. The frustration hit more people than I could have imagined.”

One person who was clearly affected was Kyle Lougheed, owner and operator of Ginocchio Electric, Inc., and the pair’s new landlord.

“What he gave us, literally, is more than we could ever could have hoped for,” said Lisa, adding Lougheed offered the couple commercial space next to where his business is located on South Main Street, where the former consignment shop Pass It On was once located. “It was a verbal agreement. He said, ‘we trust you to come here.’ It was a handshake. He said, ‘come, we need you here.’ We’re surrounded with the firehouse across the street, the post office on the left and there are some residences around, too.” 

Willow Roots immediately began distributing food out of 7730 South Main St. after the ribbon cutting on Sunday, a rarity; it will now revert to holding distribution days on the first, third and fourth Saturdays of the month from 11 a.m. to noon. 

Donations, however, should continue to be dropped off at 23 North Main St., as no one will be at the new South Main Street location to accept deliveries. Willow Roots will continue to operate its office out of 23 North Main Street; its phone number remains 518-592-1298.

As always, the food pantry relies on not only food donations, but monetary donations to get by. Lisa said she did notice an uptick in donations once the community learned of the conflict with Carla Terrace neighbors. 

Another way to donate to Willow Roots is through the Amazon Smiles program when buying online through the Amazon website. That sometimes brings in a couple of hundred of dollars to the pantry a month.

In April, the Pine Plains Community Food Locker requested Willow Roots take a break on the second Saturday of the month, to allow the Food Locker a chance to attract more clients. Lisa said it was a “great idea,” that it’s worked out really well for both groups. The Food Locker runs out of the Pine Plains Methodist Church on 3023 Church St. (Route 199), and has done so for years. To contact the Food Locker, call 518-398-6312.