Open Arms Care Center

The resumption of the SNAP benefit program doesn’t eliminate food insecurity altogether — not by a longshot.

With federal SNAP funding set to run out this weekend, food pantries across Riverhead are seeing a surge in demand. Volunteers say shelves could soon run bare as more families turn to them for help.

As inflation drives food costs up, and temporary SNAP benefits put in place during COVID end, more families are turning to local food pantries for help, but the governor's budget would slash a key assistance program by almost 40%.

Nancy Trofemuk of Calverton, a longtime volunteer at the Open Arms Care Center, which runs a food pantry out of First Baptist Church of Riverhead, was honored by Long Island Cares with its Nancy Bern Volunteer of the Year Award.

The economic and social toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is nowhere more obvious than at the local food pantries who help feed Riverhead families in need.

For the third year in a row, a Riverhead law firm and Suffolk County National Bank have raised $10,000 for local food pantries struggling with increasing demand and an ever-growing number of local hungry families.