Our Founders
Nelson & Lisa Zayas
Co-founders of Willow Roots
Willow Roots's history begins in Pennsylvania where our President, Lisa Zayas first began feeding people and began to build a community. She organized a group of women called Angels in Our Midst and began volunteer projects including buying Christmas gifts for children for the local Outreach Program. The group also baked cookies for the Bushkill Fire and Ambulance Company in appreciation for their dedication and collected over one hundred stuffed animals that were kept on the fire trucks and in the ambulances for children.
Now living in New York her mission is to bring what she has learned and share that vision with her husband and her community. It is our Treasurer and Co-founder, Nelson Zayas, that has laid the foundation for this mission to become a reality. His skills and knowledge helped bring a mission into a corporation. We believe that Willow Roots was a necessary extension of what was needed in our community. It was a wonderful organic growth of a company that has many volunteers and donors. It is our hope that we continue to see the needs of our community and begin networking and weaving people together so that we are grounded, rooted, and strong.
We are One.
We are a client choice pantry where clients choose what they want, thereby minimizing food waste. In 2021 we fed 716 (unduplicated) people: 209 children, 436 adults, and 72 senior citizens. That’s about 5,000 meals. We offer a wide variety of foods (too numerous to list), condiments, toiletry items, even cat and dog food for those with pets! In all, our clients can choose from over 300 items.
Willow Roots began as a Food Pantry to help end hunger in Pine Plains. We soon expanded to meet the growing needs of our community at large in countless other ways. Willow Roots knows that human beings need much more than food to survive. We strive to make sure everyone feels seen and understood with support and compassion. Now more than ever, acceptance, mentoring, critical life skills and a sense of safety and equality are missing in communities across the country. All people flourish when individuals sense they belong to a greater shared purpose in life. Our programs are as creative and diverse as our community. Join us. No matter your age, color, socio economic background, religion, sexual identity or preference or disability, we welcome you home.