Local Resident Starts Food Pantry For Community Members In Need
WEST BABYLON, NY — A West Babylon resident started a community food bank to help local feed residents during the coronavirus pandemic. After seeing that many community members would be effected by the coronavirus, Michael Rosenberger decided he wanted to help by starting a food pantry, which he decided to name "West Babylon Cares."
"When the coronavirus first started to lead to quarantine I started to think about families in the community that may not be able to shop for food due to being out of work as well as the elderly in the community," he told Patch. "A few months prior, my company Two Shores Realty started the C.A.R.E initiative to give back to the community through curb appeal and enrichment programs to schools, but with all of this happening I put that on hold to figure out away to help those in need during this crisis."
In order to get more people involved to help, he started the Facebook page on March 22 where he asked for volunteers to help collect food in order to create the pantry. In less than a week, the group already had 500 followers that wanted to help. Vickie and Scott Haines, who own the West Babylon-based carting and hauling company S & V Carting, offered to set up a "fill a dumpster" food drive at the C&J Meats Parking lot on 994 Little Easte Neck Road in West Babylon. The two also offered a place to store the food and sort it. Then two another local businesses, Time Chase Tattoos on 673 Route 109 in West Babylon and Deli Boss on 936 Little East Neck Road in West Babylon, offered to be food drop off locations.
After collaborating with the businesses, West Babylon Cares, which now has over 600 volunteers, started collecting food from various locations. Volunteers then help to sort it, bag it and deliver it to people in need. Through the Facebook page, the group can help residents who want to donate food and find people who need help. Since most people who receive the donations want to remain anonymous, Rosenberger does the deliveries to the families in need himself. The group also collects monetary donations, which goes towards food for the families in need purchased directly by Rosenberger. He is also hoping that more businesses will offer to act as locations for food drives.
"I was inspired to do this because I love the community of West Babylon and wanted to do something during this crisis because I knew people would be without food due to health and financial reasons," he told Patch. "I could not sleep knowing kids and elderly in our community would be hungry. We have expanded beyond West Babylon because people have heard about our efforts and we will not turn anyone away in need."
The food has gone towards feeding families and the elderly not only in West Babylon, but in the surrounding communities such as Babylon, North Babylon, Deer Park and Wyandanch. To date the group has made 50 deliveries. People can request meals by contacting West Babylon Cares on Facebook via direct message or send an email at rosenbergerm.nfarb@gmail.com.
"This is just the beginning. Since we will be in quarantine for at last 30 more days there will be many more people in need and we need all the help we can get with donations," he said. "We also need to get the word out so people know we are here to help."
Rosenberger also is using the page as a way for people to volunteer in a safe way while keeping with the guidelines of social distancing.
"It’s a new concept. It’s a work in progress. We are on this page because we have an innate desire to help our community," he said. "It’s beautiful and it’s frustrating. Like this virus it’s day to day and evolving."
However, he provided some tips for people who want to help the group:
Help identify those who need help (elderly, those feeling financial crunch and those who can’t go outside to shop) and let us know.
Donate to a food drive at one of West Babylon Cares drop off locations..
Share other endeavors of those trying to help to get the word out on social media.
Spread good cheer by showing pictures of positivity.
Simply, continue to be good to one another.
"The goal is to help as many kids, families and the elderly in West Babylon as well as the surrounding community," he said.
In addition, Rosenberger announced that Two Shores Realty will be donating $500 to the food pantry to buy food for the community and will continue to do so each month until the quarantine is over.
All photos courtesy of Michael Rosenberger
This article originally appeared on the Lindenhurst Patch
