Sasha Young says goodbye to Five Towns Community Center

Sasha Young, the founder of Gammy’s Pantry and the director of summer camps and after-school programs at the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence, stepped down from her roles there and said goodbye last Friday.

“All of it,” Young said when asked what she would miss about working at the center. “Mostly the people — we’re like one huge family, like grandmothers, grandfathers, cousins. I’ll miss that the most.”

Young, who lives in Inwood, shared the news of her planned departure in early February on Facebook. On March 5 she told the Herald in a text that in a meeting with the community center’s board, it was decided that the pantry would stay open for the next two months, to continue feeding the families that have come to rely on it.

Young opened the pantry six years ago, inspired by her grandmother Betty Young, whom she called Gammy. At its start, the facility served about 100 families, and the demand has grown.

During the hours when it’s open, there is usually a line out the Community Center’s front doors. And, Young said, the pantry has expanded to offer clothing and medical supplies as well as food.

“There was a reason why we’ve done what we’ve done, why we’ve been successful at doing it,” Young said. “We filled a need, and we were happy to do it, and if the need was being filled (elsewhere), there never would have been a need for the pantry, or clothing closet, or after-school, if anything else was offered in the community.”

Young said she was also proud of her work in the center’s community garden, where she has taught families to grow their own food, as well as her efforts to expand services for seniors. She said she didn’t know of any plans to continue after-school programs, the summer camp or the pantry.

The future of the center, at 270 Lawrence Ave., is uncertain. Its 50-year lease with Nassau County, which owns the site, is set to expire in July, and the county appears to have no plans to renew it. It issued a request for proposal over a year ago, seeking an organization to provide youth-oriented services.

Syd Mandelbaum, CEO of Rock and Wrap It Up!, a Cedarhurst-based organization that donates food and seeks to prevent wasteful practices, has collaborated with Young to provide food for Gammy’s Pantry, hosting holiday feast events and at times operating a veterans farmers market at the community center.

“I’m the main supplier of food to the community center, and we hope to continue to support the Five Towns Community Center,” Mandelbaum said. “We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to continue the veterans farmers market out of the community center.”

Mandelbaum said he was certain, based on conversations with County Executive Bruce Blakeman, that the demand for this type of facility would be met.

“I got assurance from Bruce Blakeman that all the needs of the community will be filled if and when they select another patron that will be there,” Mandelbaum said. “I have a lot of trust in Bruce.”

Gwynn Campbell, president of the community center’s board of directors, said it was uncertain what would happen to all of Young’s initiatives.

“If we are blessed enough to continue to be able to be there, then we’ll just continue to build, we’ll recruit for those roles,” Campbell said. She added that the board plans to continue with the pantry after a restructuring, because there is a need in the community, but the reorganization plans are not yet certain.

“Right now, we would have to entertain who would be interested in being a part of it, volunteer or working,” Campbell said, “but it’s really hard to say because I don’t know everybody. There’s some people that have interest … but I haven’t met them. I didn’t actually open the door — I didn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m looking for someone,’ and I have not done that because I really think it’s too premature.”

Young and 15 community center volunteers will be presented with the Pathfinder Award by the Town of Hempstead at a future ceremony as Young and Councilwoman Melissa Miller, the presenter could not attend the March 7 Pathfinder Award Ceremony.