Big Donation Helps Feed Hungry
This past summer, Sacred Heart Church’s food pantry in Glendale had bare shelves, the result of high demand and short supply-but things turned around for the better in recent months.
Local elected officials, businesses and organizations hastily organized food drives, collecting non-perishable items for the pantry operated out of the basement of Sacred Heart Church’s convent on 84th Street and 77th Avenue. It allowed the church to continue its ministry to local families struggling to make ends meet and put food on their tables.
But the biggest donation came last Thursday, Nov. 20, when The Shops at Atlas Park and State Sen. Joseph Addabbo delivered the first half of $2,500 in donated food items just in time for Thanksgiving. Before long, the pantry area was filled with green cases containing canned goods, pasta, rice, dessert mixes and biscuits purchased from Stop and Shop supermarket.
The second half of Atlas Park’s donation arrived at the pantry on Monday, Nov. 24.
“At the heart of every community are its people,” said Peter DeLucia, Atlas Park’s marketing manager, who said the “center is so much more than a collection of stores and restaurants. We are a community gathering spot.”
“Atlas Park is proud to be able to give back to the community in which we serve,” he added.
Sr. Margaret Raibaldi, Sacred Heart’s pastoral associate who also operates the pantry, expressed her gratitude for the donation, stating the donated items will allow the pantry to provide for families through Christmas. Even so, she recognized the need will continue beyond the holidays.
In preparation for Thanksgiving, Raibaldi noted, the pantry received cornucopias of donated food from other organizations including the Msgr. Sherman Knights of Columbus, which held a food drive on Nov. 15 at the Stop and Shop supermarket on the Glendale/Forest Hills border; and the Kiwanis Club of Glendale, which donated 40 frozen turkeys.
Assemblyman Mike Miller provided four turkeys and food items his office collected specifically for the pantry, and local residents individually purchased and donated turkeys for families in need, she added.
The food will be provided in packages to many of the 130 families from Glendale and surrounding communities that the pantry serves, Raibaldi told the Times Newsweekly.
“They all have different needs,” she said, pointing out that the poverty of which these families suffer ranges from merely struggling to get by to having absolutely nothing to provide themselves.
The pantry helps bridge the gap thanks, in part, to the generosity of people from around the area, Raibaldi said. Most of the assistance comes from parishioners who, upon hearing that the pantry needs donations, are quick to answer the call.
“This neighborhood has always had a good vine,” she added. “You tell two people, they call six; those six will then call 10.”
In addition to providing food for local hungry families, Raibaldi noted, her office also collects funds, clothing and other items for Hour Children, a Catholic charity that helps incarcerated or recently released mothers and their children rebuild their lives.
