Stop & Shop donates over 2,000 pounds of Passover food to the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC

Kosher food donations are needed all year long, but with Passover around the corner, thousands are finding it hard to provide for themselves and their families.

Over 20,000 Jewish people lack access to food or are living in poverty in southwestern Nassau and eastern Queens, according to official from multiple Jewish organizations.

“We continue to see a rise in food insecurity post Covid, and this extremely generous donation will help us meet the demand and enable those we serve to observe the holiday of Passover with joy and not with worry and concern,” said Marion & Aaron Gural JCC Executive Director, Stacey Feldman.

Passover food items can cost up to double what everyday kosher items cost, causing even more to lack access food at this time of year. The issues have grown within the Nassau Country and Queens Jewish Communities.

To help stem the tide of what most people call ”food insecurity,” Stop and Shop of Woodmere donated over 2,000 pounds of kosher for Passover food to The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC’s, Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry.

The pantry is a joint initiative of the Gural JCC and UJA-Federation of New York and is supported by Community Chest South Shore.

Established in 2005, The Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry is the largest Kosher Food Pantry on Long Island. They began by helping out 35 families, and now work with over 85 families from the Five Towns and neighboring communities in Nassau and Queens. It is named for a former Gural JCC executive director.

The Stop & Shop donations include: jarred gefilte fish, kosher for Passover tomato and marinara sauce, macaroons, canned pineapple, canned mushrooms, potatoes, mandarin oranges, hearts of palm, canned fruit, canned vegetables, cottonseed oil, canned tuna, matzah, matzah crackers, matzah meal and other holiday staples.

“A big thank you to Stop and Shop for their generous donation of Passover items, this contribution will make a significant difference in the lives of many local community members, ensuring they can celebrate Passover with dignity and meaning,” said Rivkah Halpern, site director at the pantry.

Local rabbis, community leaders and elected officials, along with recipients of assistance were at the pantry on April 2. The growing issue of the lack of food in the Jewish communities of the Five Towns, southwestern Nassau, and eastern Queens was discussed.

Helene Slanksy, of Hewlett, said being able to use the pantry is a comfortable environment that helps preserve her dignity.
“It means security, when I first started coming here I was embarrassed, but now I find it’s with open arms and help from these wonderful women I have met here, and I need it,” she said.

When the Gural JCC’s Sustenance Hope Opportunities Place was created the goal was to establish a place where people in need of food, clothes, a job or other counseling would feel secure and be helped by professionals and volunteers.

“We need to think about our community members here in the Five Towns, those who are really hungry and have to chose the difficult decision between paying rent and buying the groceries they need to celebrate these upcoming holiday,” said Daniel Wolk, external communications and community relations manager at Stop and Shop.