Food pantry at St. Chris hits busy time of year

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On any Monday, Wednesday or Friday afternoon, dozens of people walk into the lower level of St. Christopher’s Church off Merrick Road in Baldwin and leave with a week’s worth of groceries to feed their families.

It’s there that people in need can find Baldwin’s St. Vincent de Paul Society Food Pantry, which provides groceries to about 125 local families a month. People in need can come in once a month to get groceries — meat, produce, canned goods, cereal and paper products — that should last for a week, according to Mary Von Stein, the moderator of Baldwin’s St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Von Stein oversees the food pantry and the roughly 45 volunteers who make it run smoothly. Volunteers stock shelves, pick up food from local businesses and organizations like L.I. Cares and Island Harvest, and distribute food when the pantry is open.

A family’s religious affiliation doesn’t matter if they’re in need, Von Stein said, as long as they live within the parish boundaries, which encompasses Baldwin and a small section of Oceanside.

The food pantry survives off donations from charitable organizations and community members. The months of November and December are the busiest for Von Stein, a Baldwin resident, and the volunteers. The food pantry supplied more than 200 local families with Thanksgiving meals last month. Local schools and community groups held food drives in recent weeks that then went to the food pantry.

Baldwin’s St. Vincent de Paul Society, which is a part of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, also provides monetary assistance to people in need, when possible. Von Stein will use funds to help pay for a family’s rent or utilities bill. According to Von Stein, 100 percent of the donations to the St. Vincent de Paul Society go to people in need.

When asked her favorite part of the position, Von Stein said it’s when people no longer need the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s help. “I’ve seen people going from being on social services to now owning their own house,” she said. But in some cases, the need is permanent, which is why the food pantry and other services exist.

In addition to food, gifts are given to people in need during the holiday season. The effort, which gives people a chance to buy a gift or gifts for a child or adult, is now underway. People select who they would like to buy a gift for after reading a small card that includes the person’s gender, age and what they’re asking for, without learning their name.

For more information about the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Baldwin, or to make a donation, call (516) 223-0723.