The Salvation Army of Binghamton is resuming its community meal and food pantry services after closing earlier this month following a fatal stabbing.
The site closed at the request of Mayor Jared Kraham after a patron was fatally stabbed during a community meal in early May. Kraham told WSKG the location was not equipped to handle potential safety issues.
“The clients that they're serving, they may be hungry and need to get food, but the incidents are stemming from much larger mental health and substance use issues that that location is just not able to provide," Kraham said.
On Friday, the Salvation Army announced that starting Tuesday, it will use a mobile kitchen and food pantry to continue serving meals five days a week.
“We cannot begin to express our sincerest gratitude to every partner and donor who has supported us during this challenging time and made this transition possible,” Captain Joseph Hansen, who oversees the Binghamton Salvation Army, said in a statement on social media. “Thank you for your continued generosity to help us help those in need in our community.”
So far, the service locations are outside of the downtown area, where the original Salvation Army was located. Most services will run at the American Legion Post 80 on the city’s West Side, and in the parking lot of the Salvation Army’s adult rehabilitation center on the East Side.
The Salvation Army had already planned to move the location from Washington St. in the city’s downtown to Walnut St. on Binghamton’s West Side. Salvation Army officials say that transition is still ongoing.
Hansen wrote that the Salvation Army is still in need of donations and volunteers to help continue delivering and serving meals.
