Food Pantry of the
Presbyterian Church of the Moriches
"I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink"
We have been called to provide sustenance for those in need within our community.
We pledge to work with energy, compassion, humility and good will,
always respecting the dignity and privacy of those we serve.
Our challenge is to identify and confront obstacles to this goal,
beginning with our own limitations in equipment, space and resources.
Our vision is to meet the need, to become more responsive to it and to expand our resources
dedicated to supplying food and other essential resources. These include public agencies
such as Long Island Cares and Island Harvest as well as private community businesses and groups.
Over the past several years, we as a church family have felt the need for a community outreach mission. In an effort to reach out to those in need we optimistically began our food pantry in October of 2008. During the past year the pantry has grown substantially in the number of families that we serve. During the first few months of operation we served an average of 10-12 families per week and now serve an average of 40-45 families per week. It is both heartening and disheartening for us in that we are so proud of the success of the pantry, but are saddened by the number of families that are now in such dire need during these difficult economic times. The other areas of growth have been in the number of wonderful and dedicated volunteers who give of their time each week. We are always happy to welcome any and all who would like to help and sincerely thank each and every one who has come down on a Monday night.
We owe many grateful thanks to all of you in our own congregation who donate food so generously each week. As much as we are able to procure from Long Island Cares and Island Harvest, without your continued donations, our shelves would be empty. We cannot thank you enough and humbly ask that as long as you are able, to continue to give. There are so many others to whom we owe gratitude and thanks. Without the talents of Doug Trommer and Frank Madigan we would not have the beautiful pantry itself. A sincere thank you to both of you for all of your hard work. Another heartfelt thank you must go to Freddy Winter and scout troop #4. Without all of their efforts we would not have our stock room downstairs. We also must thank them for the several donations of food . Thank you also to the Winter family for the donation of the shelving units for the stock room and to the anonymous donations of the refrigerators and freezers from some of our own congregants.
The list of volunteers we must thank continues with those who pick up food on a weekly basis or when we cannot get a delivery. Thank you to Bob Mitterando, Jan vanHeyst, Doug Trommer, Frank Madigan, John Strabuck, Frank O’Brien and Fred Winter. We have received numerous community donations as well. Food and monetary donations from the annual postal food drive and several local businesses, civic groups and even other churches have helped us meet the ever growing need each week. We were also fortunate to be able to enlist the help of the Toys for Tots program through the United States Marine Corps. Thanks to Liz O’Brien for her efforts with the Marine Corps so that children of families who regularly visit our pantry were able to have a happy Christmas. The Winter Coat Program, as well as generous donations from our own congregation, have provided warm winter coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Many heartfelt thanks again to all of you and the US Marine Corps for helping us meet this need as well.
Thanks go out to those who faithfully volunteer each and every week either helping to bag up the food for the families or helping out with the administrative end of things with registration and intake. Thanks to each and every one of you. We cannot do this without you.
On the business end of things, we have received $770.00 in donations from church membership, community members, community groups and local businesses. These donations allowed us to shop for the basic necessities when our supplies were depleted due to serving over 40 families in a single week on several occasions and we could not get a delivery in time for the following week. So again, heartfelt thanks to the congregation and community for your generous donations.
This pantry has been, and continues to be, a truly rewarding and enlightening endeavor for each and every one of us involved. We thank our Lord and Savior for shining His light on this path to help others through Him and pray for His continued guidance that we may continue to do so.
Respectfully Submitted,
David Rogers, Director
Karen Papp, Asst. Director
Carly Sallee, Asst. Director
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