Examiner News, March 7, 2025

Food Insecurity

Chappaqua’s Jared Saiontz has 14 life threatening food allergies. That’s right, 14.

His allergies include dairy, egg, oat, rye, barley, sesame, sorghum, millet, teff, quinoa, buckwheat, chia, sunflower seed, and flax.

The ongoing health threat became a particularly vexing practical problem in the early days of the pandemic, when the now 17-year-old Horace Greeley High School junior was having a hard time locating enough allergen friendly products.

“I started to wonder what happened to people who were food insecure and relied on the food pantry – were they able to get allergen friendly foods?” Saiontz relayed to me yesterday.

He then reached out to the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry and was told he could create food allergy protocols for them.

“I then started to reach out to food pantries across the country and now over 600 pantries have adopted my protocols,” Saiontz explained.

He ultimately formalized his efforts in 2020, establishing a nonprofit, Pack the Pantry for Everyone.

And get this: Next weekend, on Saturday, Mar. 16, 2025, Saiontz and a half dozen of his Greeley pals are hosting the third annual Hoop to Pack the Pantry for Everyone three-on-three basketball tournament at Robert E. Bell Middle School.

The tournament raises money for the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry to purchase allergen free food – there’s a minimum donation for participants of $25, and every player gets a t-shirt.

In year one the event raised $10,000 and in 2024 the students raised $12,000.

“With the money,” Saiontz proudly exclaimed, “the pantry was able to feed their food allergic clientele for a year.”

The student organizers have gotten creative, bringing in sponsors who they highlight on tournament t-shirts and on banners and on social media. The upcoming tournament already boasts 130 participants from grades five to 12, with $10,000 new dollars already generated.

Saiontz is hoping to break last year’s $12,000 record and noted how 100 percent of donations – the donation link is right here – go to the pantry.

“We hope to be able to feed all food allergic clientele for another year,” he concluded.