Rallying a community that cares: local business owners come together to feed hungry neighbors

A trio of North Fork business owners, concerned about local families going hungry as the country reels from the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, have launched a grassroots effort to feed their neighbors.

Duncan Kennedy, owner of the Duncan Inn in Jamesport, saw a Facebook post by Jamesport Farm Brewery co-owner Melissa Caggiano that offered food to anyone in need.

“She wrote something like, ‘If you’re out of food and you’re hungry let us know — we have plenty and will share,’” Kennedy said.

The motel owner was already thinking about how so many small business owners on the North Fork, had already depleted their resources by the time the coronavirus outbreak hit.

“This pandemic happening at this time of the year — most of us need the summer to start in order to survive,” Kennedy said.

Seasonal workers are all hurting this time of year, he said. There are so many people who live paycheck-to-paycheck and have been laid off and find themselves with no income, the group of people in need of food assistance seemed to suddenly grow exponentially, Kennedy said.

“I thought, it’s time to step up. I copied and posted Melissa’s post and got an amazing response,” he said.

Danielle LaScala from Mattituck Flower Shop reached out to say, “Let’s do something.”

They decided to collect food donations to distribute to local families in need, Kennedy said. They started a Facebook group — NoFo Community Cares — and 10 business owners came forward and offered to have food donation boxes at their businesses. They began putting out donation boxes last Saturday. Jamesport Farm Brewery offered their farm as a distribution site.

“The brewery seemed like a perfect location for the distribution,” Kennedy said.

The group will host its first food distribution today at Jamesport Farm Brewery beginning at 12 noon. Jamesport Farm Brewery is located at 5873 Sound Avenue, Riverhead.

Kennedy said the group has enough food to distribute about 80 bags. The distribution will be self-service, with bags placed on tables for people to pick up. Volunteers will be at the site to keep it organized and make sure people maintain social distance.

He said the group has reached out to Tijuna Fulford of the Butterfly Effect Project, who has been working with Open Arms Food Pantry at First Baptist Church and Michael White of Montauk Tea Company to run a food delivery network to people in need.

“It makes sense to work together,” Kennedy said. “We decided to cooperate and partner with those guys.”

Going forward, NoFo Community Cares is in need of additional sites for donation boxes, especially in the Riverhead area.

The group is also looking for volunteer drivers to make deliveries for the food network Fulford is running.

“The outpouring from the community has been great,” Kennedy said. In addition to business owners stepping forward to offer to host a donation box, others have gotten involved to help with supplies and assistance.

He thanked the Long Island Cauliflower Association in Riverhead, Jamesport True Value Hardware in Jamesport and Orlowski’s Hardware in Mattituck for donation bins and tubs for the donation boxes, and Searles Graphics of Yaphank for creating signage. Kennedy also thanked Liz O’Shaughnessy, executive director of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce for her advice and assistance.

The group continues to seek donations for future distributions and deliveries. Suggested nonperishable items include:

• Soup
• Mashed potatoes
• Rice
• Canned veggies
• Cereals hot/cold
• Stuffing
• Tuna fish
• Sauce
• Powdered milk
• Gravy
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Bread mixes
• Cake mixes,
• Gatorade
• Bottled juices
• Canned fruits
• Apple sauce