At Oyster Bay Community Market last week, Valerie Monroy sifted through fresh produce, bread, dozens of boxes of cereal, laundry detergent and other boxes of household essentials that line the food pantry shelves.
A small storefront at the end of Audrey Street is home to People Loving People, a nonprofit that provides a lifeline to local residents, serving more than 100 individuals and families each week, running English language classes for adults, and providing child care services.
Monroy, 57, of Commack, and her sister Donna Galgano, 60, of Bayville, started a pop-up food pantry in town a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began. It later expanded into a drive-thru food pantry, helping 500 families a day at its peak, and the sisters moved to a storefront on Audrey Street in 2021.
“We wanted to create a place that would be a dignified shopping experience for the people who use the resource center,” Monroy said. “We didn’t just want to give them a bag of dented cans and stale bread. We wanted it to be a little marketplace where they could just drop in.”
The store is open on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
People Loving People relies on a core group of about 30 volunteers and part-time drivers, Monroy said. The group has an annual operating budget of about $150,000.
“They have been a lifeline for countless people during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to generously support all who pass through their stores,” said Rob Brusca, executive director of the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Chamber of Commerce.
Feeding America, a national network of food banks, food pantries and local meal programs, estimates that 44,780 children in Nassau and Suffolk counties were food insecure in 2022. A state Department of Health report released earlier this year found that more than one in five Long Island adults said they worried about having enough money to buy nutritious meals, Newsday reported.
Katrina Hill, vice president of network relations and capacity building for Long Island Cares, said 60 percent of the people served by People Loving People are native Spanish speakers. The pantry’s mission of “loving and helping others” is embodied by allowing clients to make food choices based on their culture and dietary preferences, Hill said.
“It empowers the community, encourages community engagement, promotes better health outcomes and provides dignity and respect to all who visit,” Hill said in a statement. Long Island Cares runs one of the food banks that provides food to People Loving People.
Monroy recently spoke with Newsday about the nonprofit and its journey to becoming a neighborhood staple. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What was your motivation for starting People Loving People?
My sister and I were involved with the church food pantry at Shelter Rock Church in Syosset. We saw the people who came to the pantry. There were a lot of elderly and immigrant families, and we saw the same thing in Oyster Bay. So we started a mobile food pantry at the Oyster Bay Community Center. Little by little, people started coming, and as they started coming, the Oyster Bay community started to see what was going on.
What challenges has the pandemic brought?
When COVID hit, everyone needed us. We continued to collect food from all kinds of local places, including Stop & Shop, Costco, Trader Joe’s, and the two big food banks here on Long Island. At the time, we did a drive-thru pantry. We had a team of six people who would bag and prepare the food, and people would come in their cars and we would load the food in their trunks.
What goes on behind the scenes to keep the organization going?
We rely on grants and donations. Through a grant from Long Island Cares, we are able to pay our drivers, who collect all the donations and prepare the food to be distributed to families on Wednesdays and Thursdays. In addition to the drivers, we have a team of about 30 volunteers who come together every day to help with this preparation.
What other services does the nonprofit provide?
We realized that many people in the community don’t speak English and can’t converse with their children’s teachers, so we decided to start ESL classes taught by certified English as a Second Language teachers. First Presbyterian Church of Oyster Bay provides the space, and we meet there twice a week for about 15 students. We realized that many of our students struggle with childcare, so we also offer after-school homework helper classes (K-2 and 3rd-6th grade programs) when parents come to our English classes.
People who love people
People Loving People is a nonprofit in Oyster Bay that provides fresh food to locals. The organization started as a pop-up food pantry and later moved into a storefront in Oyster Bay. According to Valerie Monroy, director of the nonprofit, the organization feeds more than 100 individuals and families every week.
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