A need you need to know

Last month, the Seaford Kiwanis Club organized a holiday food drive. Instead of donating to Long Island Cares, as the club did in 2019, it decided to stock the food pantry at St. William the Abbot Roman Catholic Church, in Seaford.

The club claimed there was an immediate need in the community that needed to be addressed.

The church’s director of social ministry, Rosemary Graziano, has seen the need in Seaford, Wantagh and Massapequa grow over the past nine months. In fact, she has seen that need for nine years. She continues to address the calls for help in those three South Shore hamlets.

“I had worked before with the former pastor, Robert Hayden,” said Graziano, 68, of Williston Park. “He was pleased with all that I had done, and there were new programs that he wanted to bring on that I could help with.”

St. William the Abbot is on Jackson Avenue in Seaford, just south of Sunrise Highway. It has partnered with Wantagh’s St. Frances de Chantal on several projects. There is no lack of need, according to Graziano.

“Most people outside this community don’t understand that we have people right here in our neighborhood that are struggling,” she said. “Most in these communities may not be aware that their next-door neighbor is struggling.”

Working in the area for nearly a decade, Graziano said she has seen the problems persist, and they are now compounded due to the coronavirus pandemic. Families are struggling financially due to unemployment or underemployment. Some single mothers and fathers are unable to afford child care, and there are senior citizens living on Social Security in homes with reverse mortgages. “These people reach out to us,” she said.

And when beckoned, she and St. William have consistently risen to the occasion. For years the church’s pantry has served the community. The difference this year is that Graziano is taking orders. “We allow them to pick what they want,” she said. “Why would I pack four bags of groceries for a family and give them cereal if they don’t like it or green beans if they don’t like it? We will take their order. They are at least entitled to that dignity!”

For Thanksgiving, St. William’s social ministry gave out more than 80 family dinners, which included grocery store gift cards donated by parishioners and community leaders. The Rev. Joseph Fitzgerald, the Rev. James Hansen and the Rev. Collins Yeboah have even visited homebound residents who want to receive communion.

Graziano is making certain no one is left out in the cold. “Say a family gets a $200 electric bill or gas bill,” she said. “Some people aren’t working due to Covid-19, have no source of income. They can’t pay that right away. And then it accumulates.”

St. William has worked alongside PSEG Long Island, National Grid and the Home Energy Assistance Program to ensure up to $600 worth of gas to heat individual homes. Graziano said that the energy companies have honored the deal, which has helped nearly 20 families to date. The church also has worked with PSEG L.I. to provide longer timetables for paying back past months’ electric bills.

Her responsibilities include community outreach. In addition to the church’s partnership with Seaford Kiwanis this holiday season, it will also partner with the Seaford Lions Club, various Boy Scout troops and Seaford American Legion Post 1132.

“Tomorrow I’m going to pick up $2,000 worth of gift cards raised by the community,” Charles Wroblewski, the post chaplain, said on Sunday. “We’re going to gift $1,000 to St. William and $1,000 to Maria Regina in Seaford.”

“The parishioners have become like a family,” Graziano said of her St. William family. “They really care about the people in need, and those people who receive the benefits from the program are so appreciative.”

Graziano urged any resident in the Seaford, Wantagh or Massapequa area who needs help, or who knows someone who needs to help, to call (516) 679-8532 or go to www.stwilliam.org.