The Long Island Food Pantry, located in Freeport at 353 West Sunrise Highway, is scheduled to close on April 15 due to the not for profit’s decreased funding. The organization, which is affiliated with Long Island Cares and the Long Island Council of Churches, hopes to accrue enough funding this week to prevent the closure.
Several leaders and administrators have pointed to steady decreases in donations from churches that they rely on as the main factor to the Long Island Food Pantry’s impending closure.
“We’re down in donations from our churches,” said Anthony Achong, the director of administration and operations for the Long Island Food Pantry. “We do get grants and other things that we file for, but our main donations are down right now.”
In a “last ditch effort” to prevent closing and leaving the thousands of people the pantry impacts underserved, Achong said the Long Island Food Pantry is still accepting contributions and donations.
“To get us back operational, we would probably need a minimum of $50,000, but every donation helps,” Achong explained. “We do have current donors that are coming out, giving us money here and there. We’re trying to see if we can build that back up right now to see if we can possibly keep it open. …If a miracle comes through and we get more funding, then maybe we can continue.”
In the past decade alone, the Long Island Food Pantry has served millions of Long Islanders in need and has partnered with other charitable organizations, like Island Harvest, to try and make a difference.
In anticipation of its closure, the Long Island Food Pantry is ready to provide whatever leftover resources are left to other food pantries and return equipment to Long Island Cares for other ministries.
Federal cuts to funding for food assistance programs through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), has indirectly impacted the effectiveness of organizations like the Long Island Food Pantry, since Long Island Cares has fewer grant opportunities and funds to provide to the pantry.
“We’re indirectly affected, because funding that goes to them (Long Island Cares), that then allows them to buy food, and then we have grants where we can go to them and we can get food based on our grants,” Achong said.
As a result, Achong stated that the pantry sometimes had less food available to give out. According to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, over 43,000 Nassau County residents receive SNAP benefits. With federal legislation enacted on July 4, 2025, have further restricted the requirements for people to qualify for SNAP benefits, decreasing the number of participants, while the amount of those in need have not decreased at a equivalent rate.
To donate to the Long Island Food Pantry please email liccanthony@optonline.net, or call 516-868-4989.
