Strike a Chord: Long Island Kids Fight Back against Hunger
Food Pantry
Long Island might be associated with wealth, but as many as 60,000 Long Islanders receive emergency food help each week. However, in one Long Island community, middle school students are fighting back against food insecurity.
When the bell rings for lunch at South Middle School in Brentwood, instead of rushing off to the cafeteria, a small group of sixth-graders goes to a room and restocks shelves full of canned goods, pasta, oatmeal, and all sorts of nonperishable foods. That room is the South Middle School food pantry.
"I started working here to see what I could do to help out, and I started working, and I started actually liking it, so I just decided to keep working here," said Christopher Santos, a 6th grader here at Brentwood South. "You know, making the sacrifice to stay here," he added.
Santos said he tries to come down and help out at the food pantry whenever he can. Guidance counselor Stacey Brennen students like Santos who volunteer at the pantry are happy to help.
"They feel good about themselves, they're helping others," said Brennen.
Brentwood could use the help. The town has twice the poverty rate of the rest of Suffolk County, and the Median Income in Brentwood is roughly $20,000 less than the rest of the county. With poverty comes food insecurity--69% of Brentwood South students qualify for the federal free and discounted lunch program, which is based on family income level. Just 23 percent of kids on the rest of Long Island do.
Brennen said the school decided the school decided to help out struggling families as best as they could.
"We thought it would be helpful to supply some nonperishable food items for families and some children in immediate need," said Brennen. "Just to make life a little bit easier, and take one thing off their list of needs at that time."
Brennen said that while the kids often do not end up seeing the people they help, students like knowing their efforts are going towards a good cause.
