Helping for the Holidays

Your neighbors are hungry

Churches step up to fill the need in Wantagh and Seaford

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Local congregations in Wantagh and Seaford are doing their part to combat hunger. “The need is great and getting greater,” said Ele Ruth Melendez, the director of social ministry at St. Frances de Chantal Church.

“Our shelves are always bare,” added Cheryl Tribley, office manager at Wantagh Memorial Congregational Church.

And in Seaford, the need is just as great. At Maria Regina Church, the number of families that need food has increased five-fold, according to Kathy Ryan, director of social ministry. “I’ve been here 20 years,” she said. “We went from helping 20 families to helping 100 families.”

“Need is on the rise,” said Rosemary Graziano, director of social ministry at St. William the Abbot. “We are seeing a larger population of people who are underemployed and our seniors, who are on fixed incomes.”

According to Long Island Cares, 64,900 people receive emergency food every week on Long Island. Nearly half are the “working poor” — households that include at least one employed adult. Of these, 63 percent have monthly incomes below the federal poverty level. Nearly half report having to choose between paying the rent or utilities and paying for food.

Additionally, “39 percent of those individuals are children under 18 years old and are among the largest single population of the hungry,” a Long Island Cares study states. The elderly, meanwhile, make up 4 percent of Long Island’s hungry population.

“We collect food all year round,” said Tribley. “And we still don’t seem to put a dent in the need.”

In the summer months, the Wantagh Memorial Congregational Church grows fresh vegetables. It also organizes a food drive every few months. “We have different events, and the price of admission is cans of food,” Tribley said, including the church’s Christmas Carol program, planned for Dec. 21. In addition to the Wantagh families the church assists, the congregation also provides food to the Freeport Emergency Food Pantry, and recently delivered 1,200 pounds of food there.

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