BATH, N.Y. (WENY) -- The Bath VA held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a brand new veteran-focused food pantry. The concept for the pantry started back in 2017. 

The Food Bank of the Southern Tier donated more than 25,000 pounds of food to help get the idea off the ground. On the opening day, Friday, February 2nd, the pantry served more than 150 veterans. 

According to Feeding America, 1 in 9 working-age Veterans are food insecure. An additional, 24% of active-duty service members were food insecure in 2020.

The pantry is free to all veterans and it's open the first and third Friday of each month from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Donations are encouraged and those can be made through the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and the VA's Center for Development and Civic Engagement. The Bath VA's contact is Mary Harkin, CDCE Specialist and she can be reached at mary.harkin@va.gov or (607)-664-4771.

The VA Medical Center is located at 76 Veterans Ave, Bath, NY 14810.