Every weekend, students in need from Phillips Avenue Elementary School take home a backpack full of food to last them through the days they don’t receive free or reduced price lunches at school.
The “backpack meals” program, sponsored by Island Harvest, has been very successful for several years, Phillips Avenue principal Debra Rodgers said — but teachers began noticing that the meals in the backpacks, intended to feed a single child, were being used to feed children’s entire families.
“It was clear that there is tremendous need in this community,” Rodgers said, “so we decided to start a food pantry.”
Under Rodgers’ leadership, Riverhead’s first in-school food pantry opened January 22 in Phillips’ cafeteria, serving 71 people on its first day. Since then, the pantry has been literally overflowing with donations — spilling out from the custodial closets and into a small section of the school’s cafeteria.
“We’ve been so blessed with donations. But my custodians aren’t very happy with me,” she added, laughing, “because they haven’t had a closet for a while.”
Phillips Avenue has the poorest population of students of all the schools in the district, with more than 80 percent of students receiving either free or reduced price meals. “That means they’re at or below the poverty level,” Rodgers said. “It’s so important that these kids are getting enough to eat, both in school and at home.”
The pantry is open every second and fourth Thursday of each month. Last Thursday – the pantry’s fourth evening of operation since it opened in January – food was provided to 215 people, three times the amount of its first evening.
As the pantry has gained momentum, local businesses and farmers have been looking to pitch in. Goodale Farms on Route 25 reached out to the school to discuss donations of local produce, as soon as the pantry has equipment to refrigerate and freeze the necessary products. John Wesley Village granted the school a “huge” donation that Rodgers said was critical to getting the pantry off its feet.
And today, Gershow Recycling donated $1,000 to the food pantry.
“The support from the community has been astounding,” Rodgers said at Gershow’s check presentation at the school today. “We want this school to be the center of this community, and that means reaching out to the community’s families. It’s about neighbors helping their neighbors.”
The pantry is staffed entirely by volunteers, mostly from the staff of the school itself. It will be open even on school holidays, thanks to efforts from the volunteers.
Families at the pantry begin by filling out a “shopping list,” which includes all the items the pantry has available to distribute. The list is provided in both English and Spanish, and includes images of the food items as well.
“They check off everything they would like to have,” Rodgers said. “Choice is important. What’s the point of me giving you 10 pounds of pasta if you don’t like pasta?”
Then, the family waits in the cafeteria while volunteers pack their order from the pantry’s shelves into boxes and bags.
There is also a “Take Five” table available, with “singleton things” that the pantry might not be able to distribute in larger quantities, Rodgers said. The pantry also receives donations of gluten-free products for those with sensitivities.
The pantry even provides cab fare for families without transportation, Rodgers said.
The pantry is open to the community every second and fourth Thursday of the month from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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