Eagle Scout remodels Bellmore-Merrick Community Cupboard

The Bellmore-Merrick Community Cupboard is nearing its one-year anniversary of delivering food throughout the district. “It’s been rolling and snowballing ever since [it opened],” Mepham High School teacher and founder Karin McMahon told the Herald last year.

Recently, the cupboard, which is located in a storage room in the Brookside School on Meadowbrook Road, also received a makeover when Jordan Berke, 15, of Bellmore, dedicated his Eagle Scout project to remodeling it.

Before he brainstormed the idea, Berke recalled meeting with a family friend who said that his Eagle Scout project involved remodeling a park. “He gave back to something in someone else’s life.” Berke said, adding that it struck a cord with him. “I knew this would help all of the families in my district,” he added.

Berke started by installing a desk at the entrance of the cupboard so that volunteers could properly greet visitors. At the time, there were not enough shelves to store the cupboard’s food and some items were stacked on top of each other. Berke made shelves and shelving units for proper storage, creating several shelves for food in the front and, in the back, several more for toiletries.

To transport food, the cupboard’s volunteers used to rely on cardboard boxes that needed to be replaced regularly because of breakage. To make the process easier, Berke ordered seven collection bins on wheels with plastic covering. The bins are also labeled with the name of each school building.

In the past, student volunteers have stocked the cupboard and Kennedy High School senior Samantha Stracher painted a mural to give the space more personality. The Community Cupboard is open on Thursdays, and families can pick up food. Volunteers can drop food off at the district’s schools. For more information call (516) 992-1073.