Operations

Charlotte Smiseth: Director of Operations

Program Coordinators

Weekend Backpack Program: Lorraine Waitman

Summer Breakfast/ Lunch Program: Susan Philliber

General Distribution Program: Charlotte Smiseth

Holiday Basket Program: Charlotte Smiseth

Children’s Holiday Baskets: Charlotte Smiseth

Snack & Drink Program: Charlotte Smiseth

Delivery Program: Charlotte Smiseth

Officers

Board President: Susan Bruck

Vice President:Ginger Whispell

Director of Operations: Charlotte Smiseth

Recording Secretary: Brittney Donovan

Board Members

Samantha Bruck

Erica Riordan

Michael Brown Rich Roosa

Jeremy Pierce

Thomas Jackson

Susan Bruck

Sue has been the Board President since 2017 and has lived in Ulster County most of her life. Her volunteering career has included leadership positions in Ulster County 4-H, the Marbletown Reformed Church, AYSO, and the Rondout Valley Central School District She is honored to work for and with the community creating lasting relationships and memories for everyone involved with an emphasis on removing all stigma from the food pantry experience.

Roseanna Smith

Roseanna Smith, Co-Treasurer moved to Stone Ridge five years ago and has been a member of the Board since 2018. It was the Backpack Program that first drew Roseanna to this wonderful organization, raising her awareness of the large number of needy families in her own neighborhood, and, following in the footsteps of current Board President (and one of Roseanna's role models) Sue, Roseanna hopes to help reduce the insecurity and stigma associated with accepting help from the food pantry. 

Jeremy Pierce

Jeremy Pierce has served on the Rondout Valley Food Pantry Board of Trustees since 2012. She is the liaison to the Marbletown Reformed Church, one of the Food Pantry’s church stakeholders. Jeremy also worked as a food distribution volunteer at the Food Pantry from 2012 to 2020.

Rich Roosa

Information coming soon.

Ginger Whispell

Ginger has been the Board Vice President since 2018. She has lived in the area her entire life. She became involved with the pantry because she strongly feels that food insecurity should not be an issue. There should never be a reason for someone to worry about having enough food for themselves or their family. She believes that everyone who needs the help should feel comfortable to come to our pantry and be able to get what they need.

Tasha Clemmer

Tasha has been Co-Treasurer since 2018. She began her career as a public school Math teacher in New York City in 2004 and is currently teaching Math for Ulster BOCES's alternative high school. She is an active member of Christ the King Episcopal Church and in her free time she enjoys gardening and spending time with her family outdoors.

Michael Brown

Michael retired from a career in teaching and is now farming and gardening. He organized  many charity fundraisers with his students at the Red Hook Middle School in the hopes of guiding them into a a life-long interest in making the world a better place.  He has been supporting the Rondout Valley Food Pantry for the last three years.  He increased his support last year after a giant maple tree fell within inches of him while on his tractor and he realized that he needed to do more to express his gratitude for life and to support others. 

Samantha Bruck

Information coming soon.

Charlotte Smiseth

Charlotte Smiseth has been the Director of Operations for the Rondout Valley Food Pantry since late 2019. Charlotte is a graduate of Rondout Valley High School and a local resident her entire life. She is extremely passionate about helping her neighbors and friends in times of need. She builds personal connections with every guest she encounters at the food pantry and tries to make them feel as if they are talking with a friend while taking their custom grocery order. She is also our acting volunteer coordinator who organizes jobs, times and training for all of our wonderful volunteers. In 2023 she went back to school for Grant Writing and has since become our organization’s official writer. Charlotte loves interacting and meeting her neighbors whether they are volunteers, guests, donors or just community members with questions about what it is we do at the Rondout Valley Food Pantry. She is pictured above with her daughter, and our youngest volunteer Saylor.

Lorraine Waitman

I moved to Lomontville in 2012 following a long career at the United Nations. I started volunteering at the Food Pantry in 2014. In 2018 I began working as the Weekend Backpack Coordinator with other volunteers at the Food Pantry, it has been a wonderful experience. I love that our pantry focuses on neighbors helping neighbors in our community.

Thomas Jackson

Tom is liaison with the Community Church of High Falls. He retired from a long career in public service, including five terms as Town Supervisor of Marbletown. His mother Ann Jackson was a long-time volunteer at the Rondout Valley Food Pantry and Tom wanted to continue her tradition of giving back to the community through serving the Food Pantry and Backpack Program.

TBD

We currently have open spaces on our Board of Directors. If you are interested in joining please email our Board President Susan Bruck at rvfppresident@gmail.com

Brittney Donovan

Brittney Donovan has been the Recording Secretary of the Rondout Valley Food Pantry since 2018 and manages all meeting note taking. She is a graduate of Rondout Valley High School and SUNY Ulster and is an AmeriCorps alum. Brittney has extensive volunteer experience working to alleviate hunger and food insecurity throughout the United States. She enjoys serving in her community and making sure people are taken care of.

Susan Philliber

Susan Philiber, Coordinator of the Summer Breakfast/Lunch Program for Children, has lived in the Hudson Valley for more than 35 years. She and her husband ran the Youth Group program at the High Falls Reformed Church for more than 10 years. Before moving to the Hudson Valley she taught and ran a search unit at Columbia University in New York City. Philliber Research and Evaluation, in Accord, is a family-owned business, providing non-profits throughout the US and abroad with research assistance to measure the outcomes of their work.

Erica Riordan

Erica Riordan is a resident of Kerhonkson since 2016, after moving “upstate” from Long Island. She spent 20 years working FOH positions in the restaurant/hospitality industry. Erica began volunteer work with the RVFP in the summer of 2020 doing deliveries as a “per diem” and continues that commitment today. She looks forward to learning more about the needs of our community and gaining skills needed to meet those needs. Currently, Erica is self employed as a Property Manager for home share hosts.

Jon Thomas Tolbert

In late 2023 we unfortunately lost our long time volunteer, guest, board member, advocate, and friend Jon Thomas Tolbert. Below is his self-written bio left on our board member page in honor of his memory.

“ Jon Thomas had started as a guest and has together with his Uncle Harry and our extreme volunteer Justin(pictured on the left) has been ready to pitch in whether its a board matter or reaching out to local pantry agency representatives .No matter as board members we are all a bad day away from needing a kind supportive gesture from our community at the Rondout Valley Food Pantry :)”