New Beginnings Food Pantry Will Fight 'Crisis' Number Of Hungry On LI

LONG ISLAND, NY — A woman who has devoted her life to helping those with traumatic brain injuries and other disabilities is now opening her heart to helping the hungry on Long Island.

Allyson Scerri, founder of New Beginnings and the Brendan House, is partnering with Long Island Cares, Inc. / The Harry Chapin Food Bank, to create a food pantry that will be filled not just with nourishing items but also beauty products, medical and healthcare items, as well as other necessities.

The new food pantry will be called "Kind Awareness At New Beginnings," she said.

The number of hungry on Long Island has surged, Scerri added. "We are in a crisis since inflation," she said.

The food pantry will be located at 12 Platinum Court in Medford and Scerri will distribute donations to Brendan House in Riverhead, as well as all over Long Island, she said.

She felt, deep inside, that she needed to help those faced with food insecurity, Scerri said.

"My heart told me to do this," she said. I am just following this calling. I went to Long Island Cares in Hauppauge and am totally amazed at their organization. I have been giving and helping for 16 years since I started New Beginnings. I want to do more. Harry Chapin died in a car accident like my mother and I can relate to his family by keeping memories alive."

Donations can be taken either at Brendan House, located at 4079 Sound Avenue in Riverhead, or at the New Beginnings Community Center, located at 12 Platinum Ct., Suite B, in Medford.

The community is already coming together to help: Scerri said some CVS and Stop & Shop stores have also offered to donate. The employees at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Center Moriches built all her shelves and help to prepare the 3,000 square foot space in the New Beginnings Community Center.

The Brendan House is a long-term facility for those with traumatic brain injuries and other cognitive and physical disabilities in Riverhead. The New Beginnings Community Center is a Medford outpatient facility designed to provide rehabilitation, management and recovery for community members with traumatic brain injury, physical disabilities, cognitive disabilities or dementia.

"New Beginnings started 16 years ago when my dad was severely injured," Scerri said. "My world changed in an instant. I came up with the idea of helping others. We opened our rehabilitation center and a shared living facility."

Now she said, she will be taking the next step to help the needy by creating a food bank and nurturing bodies and spirits.

She urged people to go through their cabinets and donate canned goods.

Christine Lehn, VP for network relations at Long Island Cares, said this week that Scerri was to become a partner with the organization; she attended orientation and was approved.

"What she wants to do is wonderful thing," she said.

Lehn said people need more than just food; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or SNAP, program does not cover health care items such as shampoo, soap, or toiletries.

According to Long Island Cares, there's been an sharp increase in food insecurity islandwide.

In 2022, Long Island Cares distributed 1,041,765 meals to 115,699 visitors, some of whom were repeats, at its five satellites across the island. In 2021, those numbers were 647,844 meals given to 73,896 visitors. The food bank handed out 60 percent more meals last year than in 2021.

The numbers are "alarming," said Dr. Jessica Rosati, the vice president of programs at Long Island Cares.

"The drastic increases are demonstrating that there is significant food insecurity on Long Island, larger than we have seen since the onset of the [coronavirus] pandemic," Rosati told Patch. "Long Islanders are relying more heavily on food pantries to sustain their family's food needs."

(Patch News Partner/Shutterstock)Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you

With reporting by Michael DeSantis.

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