Astoria Food Pantry
Donation protected
Hi! Welcome to the Astoria Food Pantry! We are a pop-up food pantry that was created to fill the need in our neighborhood created by COVID-19.
My name is Macaela and I started the Astoria Food Pantry in March of this year out of the back of my car. Seeing schools closing and learning that so many families depend on school for meals, I was moved to take action. With donations from family and friends, I purchased a haul of groceries and began giving them away to those who came to pick up meals from the public school on Ditmars Blvd.
Since our humble beginning, we have moved into a retail space on Steinway St. donated by local Assembly Candidate Zohran Mamdani, teamed up with Astoria resident/organizer Catie, and with the help of organizations like Astoria Mutual Aid and The Connected Chef, plus countless volunteers, we are now serving nearly 150 families each week!
Need is only growing and if you have been on Steinway on Friday mornings, you’ll know that the line for our Pantry goes around the block. At present, it takes about $1,400 per week to provide each family with one bag of produce, one bag of pantry staples, and stock the traditional choose-your-own pantry. Each Friday by 11AM, we are completely wiped out and start from scratch for the next week.
This is where the support of the community comes in! In two weeks, the lease on the space we’re in will be up and while we’re actively looking for a new home, we want to be sure our capacity for providing food is secured. In order to guarantee the next 5 weeks of service, we are starting with a fundraising goal of $7,000 which will be used to feed 150 families weekly.
No amount is too small. If this time has proven anything, it’s that a difference can be made if we’re all working shoulder-to-shoulder. If you can’t give, please share! If your employer is looking for somewhere local to donate, please pass us along! We can’t thank you enough for supporting our efforts for the past 3 months and we hope to be able to continue serving this incredible neighborhood!
My name is Macaela and I started the Astoria Food Pantry in March of this year out of the back of my car. Seeing schools closing and learning that so many families depend on school for meals, I was moved to take action. With donations from family and friends, I purchased a haul of groceries and began giving them away to those who came to pick up meals from the public school on Ditmars Blvd.
Since our humble beginning, we have moved into a retail space on Steinway St. donated by local Assembly Candidate Zohran Mamdani, teamed up with Astoria resident/organizer Catie, and with the help of organizations like Astoria Mutual Aid and The Connected Chef, plus countless volunteers, we are now serving nearly 150 families each week!
Need is only growing and if you have been on Steinway on Friday mornings, you’ll know that the line for our Pantry goes around the block. At present, it takes about $1,400 per week to provide each family with one bag of produce, one bag of pantry staples, and stock the traditional choose-your-own pantry. Each Friday by 11AM, we are completely wiped out and start from scratch for the next week.
This is where the support of the community comes in! In two weeks, the lease on the space we’re in will be up and while we’re actively looking for a new home, we want to be sure our capacity for providing food is secured. In order to guarantee the next 5 weeks of service, we are starting with a fundraising goal of $7,000 which will be used to feed 150 families weekly.
No amount is too small. If this time has proven anything, it’s that a difference can be made if we’re all working shoulder-to-shoulder. If you can’t give, please share! If your employer is looking for somewhere local to donate, please pass us along! We can’t thank you enough for supporting our efforts for the past 3 months and we hope to be able to continue serving this incredible neighborhood!
Fundraising team (2)
Macaela Sears
Organizer
Astoria, NY
Catie Fireman
Team member