L.I. Students Donate To Local Food Pantry For Holiday Season

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — Molloy College students are paying it forward for the needy families this holiday season.

The students loaded vans with more than 1,000 pounds of donated food and supplies. They were delivered to The Mary Brennan INN soup kitchen in Hempstead.

The drive was organized by the school's Office of Campus Ministry ahead of Thanksgiving and winter holiday season.

"I think it’s important to give back," said Elizabeth Hertler, a junior at Molloy College, who helped to organize the food drive. "To recognize how much we have and to give to those who may not have as much and who are in need. And remember that we should do it all the time, not just at this time of the year.”

Molloy College runs food drives throughout the year to contribute to food pantries and soup kitchens across Long Island. Each drive is sponsored by a different department at the college as an extension of its mission to serve the larger community.

"Nutritional access on Long Island is a big problem right now," Mike Malinowski, with Molloy College Office of Campus Ministry, said in a statement. "There are people who don’t have access to the amount of food that they need. Especially since COVID, this has become an increasing problem. We think it’s more important than ever to collect things and provide for places like The Mary Brennan INN who help people who need it."