Emergency Food Pantry Opens In New Location

MASTIC BEACH, NY — An emergency food pantry that helps individuals in need opened in a new location recently — with a new name, too.

The Mastics & Shirley Community Emergency Food Pantry Foundation, Inc., hosted an official ribbon cutting ceremony at its new location at 338 Blanco Drive in Mastic Beach — on the south side of William Paca Middle School, officials said.

At the event, food pantry volunteers also unveiled the food pantry’s new name — the William Jackson Mastic-Shirley Food Pantry — named for longtime volunteer and former head of the pantry, William Jackson, who passed away last year.

The food pantry provides a two-day supply of food once every 21 days, officials explained. Applicants must first be certified through Colonial Youth & Family Services or St. Jude’s Food Pantry by providing identification, as well as proof of income and family size. The pantry will also be providing assistance to federal employees affected by the government shutdown; a valid federal photo identification is required, a release said.

The William Jackson Mastic-Shirley Food Pantry is open two days per week — Mondays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and is located next to the Family Service League’s William Floyd Family Center on the grounds of the William Floyd School District.

With an eye toward helping even further, the William Floyd Middle School also hosts a food pantry in partnership with Island Harvest. The William Floyd Middle School Food Pantry is open on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, excluding school holidays and breaks, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

To see a list of additional food pantries available in the area, click here for the Long Island Cares Harry Chapin Food Bank locator.

Patch photo courtesy William Floyd School District.