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Community Corner

No. 93: Community Food Council

After almost 40 years, food pantry is still running strong on donations of food and labor.

The day can swing from quiet to madly busy at the drop of a hat at the Community Food Council food pantry at Manor Field in Huntington Station.

Those in need of food can stop by the pantry at 90 E. Fifth St. from 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday. It’s one of several in Huntington that help community members in need. Volunteers and donations are always welcomed.

The food pantry is staffed by volunteers and sustained by donations. It was formed in 1972 by several area Protestant churches to help feed the community’s hungry, according to Don Proferes, a retired physician who has been president for five years. “This is a self-sustaining operation,” Proferes said, sharing information between trips to the parking lot to help unload donated food.

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It started on Railroad Street in a building the town owned, then moved into the Village Green, and for the past 8 years has had a space at the Manor Field Family Center building with the Family Service League offices. It has few operating expenses other than the phone line, Proferes said. If you have a question or want to volunteer, call 631-351-1060 and leave a message if it is after hours.

The volume of clients needing services is high, Proferes said. In 2010, the food pantry averaged 820 people fed each month. With the generous donations, it has been able to increase the number of client visits from 6 to 7 a year and can provide eggs and frozen meat to clients. "It's considered an emergency food source," Proferes said, but between the different pantries, families can help keep food on the table.

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Its income in 2010 was $54,686, he said, largely from donations and grants, including $20,000 from Long Island Cares, where it gets food to stock its shelves, and grants the last five years from Suffolk County through , and through the Department of Social Services. Those funds let the pantry buy food when it runs low on staples, he says, and to buy items such as peanut butter and canned fruit, eggs, frozen meat and hot dogs. Bread donations are problematic, Proferes said, since it’s hard to find a regular supply of loaf bread from stores. The pantry buys meat from Community Market, which packages and delivers it for the pantry, and eggs from Heartland, and often Proferes will go to Long Island Cares in Hauppauge to pick up cases of food from the Harry Chapin Food Bank.

On a recent morning, volunteers stocked the shelves with an influx of donations – baked beans and grape jelly, along with pasta and cereal – and handled paperwork as clients came in for food. With three volunteers needed each day, that’s 15 a week and about 60 a month. The food pantry averages about 75 volunteers a month, Proferes said.

Most volunteers come via word of mouth at their churches or are friends of other volunteers who get roped into service. Tom Conneely came in November to drop off food and has returned since then to donate his time to help unload and stock shelves. “I saw how busy it was and I came back to help unload,” Conneely said.

Food donations come in regularly from member churches, as well as cash donations. , Centerport United Methodist, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cold Spring Harbor and the are all regular food donors, and last fall the United Methodist Church donated $5,000 earned through its fall fair to the food pantry, he said. Donations also come in from food drives organized by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, as well as by school groups.

So, when you visit, don’t come empty-handed. Bring a bag of food. Toiletries – soap, toothpaste, shampoo – are useful, along with protein items such as peanut butter, as well as jelly and canned fruits.

The parishes of St. Hugh (Huntington Station) and St. Patrick (Huntington) run food pantries for residents within their boundaries, and some other religious institutions also help based on referrals. Other food pantries serving general Huntington residents include:

* Helping Hand Rescue Mission: 225 Broadway, Huntington Station, 631-351-6996; hhrm.org.

Helping Hand’s food pantry is open 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Clients need a referral or an ID. The mission also could use volunteers to help set up tables in a 22-seat room and to serve or clean up after a noon hot lunch every Wednesday. To volunteer, you must be 18 or older, although they also have a volunteer program for children 13 to 17. To apply, fill out the form online or e-mail volunteer@hhrm.net.

* Bethel AME Church: 291 Park Ave., Huntington, 631-549-5014; 631-470-0464; or 516-902-6134, noon to 2 p.m. every other Thursday. “We’re not a hand out, we’re a hand up,” says Rev. Loring Pasmore. Clients need a referral or an ID, he says, and should call if there’s an emergency need.

Stay tuned for No. 92 next week, same time same place, as Huntington Patch explores the places and activities in town.

Note: This story was updated March 23 to correct the Community Food Council phone number.

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