Community Feeds Hungry Children After Coronavirus Closes Schools

EAST END, NY — The big yellow school buses across the East End were filled to the brim Tuesday not with students, but with adults bringing educational supplies, Chromebooks— and food for the hungry.

The buses aimed to meet the needs of children who are home for at least two weeks after coronavirus led to shuttered schools across Long Island Sunday

Some lawmakers initially expressed concerns about closing schools due to the children who depend on the free and reduced price school meal program each day.

To that end, in many districts, educators, staff and parents organized to take the matter into their own hands, delivering school supplies and food to families early Tuesday.

"This morning it was the adults who boarded the school buses at 6:30 a.m.," said Christine Springer of Mattituck. "We had a team of all the administrators, teachers, teacher assistants and clerical, technology, business office staff riding to each bus stop and handing out packets of work, Chromebooks and food supplies. To see each kid’s bright smile and their parents truly grateful, was a feel-good moment."

School bus driver Beth Shipman of Mattituck agreed, saying she had Mattituck High School Principal Shawn Petretti and two teachers on her bus.

"It was an amazing experience," she said. "A group of about a dozen or so people loaded the supplies onboard and then the four of us set out to deliver the supplies."

A total of 12 buses went out from the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District, she said. "We truly are lucky to live in a district that has gone the extra mile — literally — to make the best of an unprecedented situation," she said.

Also focusing on feeding hungry children is Community Action of Southold Town in Greenport, which is providing the Feed-A-Kid program, as well as its food pantry and emergency services. CAST has limited hours currently, including Monday, 9 am. to noon, Tuesday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, until further notice.

Call 631-477-1717 or email info@castsoutholdtown.org to sign up for FAK. CAST is also accepting donations of non-perishable food, diapers and personal care items. To make a donation to help CAST meet the emergency needs in the community, click here.

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming said her office is working together to take a comprehensive look at food resources; many school districts across the region are continuing with food programs and doing curbside pickup or grab-and-go meals for kids who receive the free or reduced meals daily.

On the South Fork, she said, Tuckahoe bus drivers are also delivering food and educational materials to kids; Shelter Island also has volunteers doing the same.

A centralized list of food pantries is being assembled to help the general public struggling with layoffs or food insecurity due to coronavirus. That list, on the East End, includes the Sag Harbor Food Pantry, the Living Water Full Gospel Church in Riverhead, the Bridgehampton Food Pantry, East Hampton Meals on Wheels, the East Hampton Food Pantry, the Springs Community Presbyterian Church, Heart of the Hamptons, St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Amagansett, the Town of Southampton Youth Bureau, the Eleanore Whitmore Early Childhood Center in East Hampton, Long Island Cares, Long Island Harvest, and the Suffolk County Office of the Aging.

"They are all ramping up to provide those in need with additional resources," Fleming said, adding that donations are encouraged.