$200,000 State Grant To Fund New Food Pantry In Valley Stream

VALLEY STREAM, NY — Long Island Cares has secured funding from the state for its latest satellite food pantry in Valley Stream.

After opening a weekly pop-up food distribution center at the Presbyterian Church of Valley Stream, the charitable organization saw food insecurity firsthand during the pandemic.

"We saw directly what an increased need the residents of Valley Stream really had," Dr. Jessica Rosati, Long Island Cares Chief Program Officer, told Patch.

That led to work with Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Valley Stream) to secure a grant of $200,000 through the Office of Children and Family Services to create the new location just steps away from the Long Island Rail Road station on Rockaway Avenue. An additional $320,000 was received from the federal level with help from Rep. Gregory Meeks.

"I think it'll be very appealing to residents because it'll be convenient," she said.

The site requires plenty of work to get it ready and up to code. Rosati said they just received a permit for the pantry.

"We set it up like a supermarket. We want to give people the opportunity, the dignity, to pick and choose the items that they'd like," she said.

This will be Long Island Cares' ninth location across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Once opened, the Valley Stream pantry will focus on local residents and neighbors in Elmont and Franklin Square.

"If we can create programs and embed them into communities, where people live, strive and work, then it makes it easier," Rosati said. "We don't want anybody who is in need of food to have to travel."