Thursday, October 1, 2026
Jewish food pantries in the Five Towns are being praised by Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages for their work delivering to individuals and families in need due to their immigration status.
In a Facebook post, he wrote, “many families are scared to go the food pantries due to their immigration status. I would like to thank several Jewish pantries, who understand this level of fear. They are delivering food to these individuals who are in need.”
Solages, who used to represent parts of the Five Towns before the recent redistricting, explained that his post had a two-fold goal.
“It was dealing with a part of the population that needs help and they are calling and reaching out to me asking how to get help,” Solages said. “The second part of it is the people who without any solicitation came to help and offered help.”
He added that it’s not just the pantries, it’s leaders speaking up in a careful way due to the “political climate.”
“It has to be in a way in which people feel safe to receive the help,” he said. “It’s not just the pantries, several other leaders in the Jewish community reached out. In light of the increased antisemitism, a connection was drawn between several communities.”
Solages noted that Stacey Feldman, executive director of the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC along with her team at the Sustenance Hope Opportunities Place have been a major help.
Rivkah Halpern, program director and a social worker at the S.H.O.P said that her team has gotten involved to ensure clients are feeling safe.
“We have a Spanish-speaking social worker who works part-time, she does have a number of clients who are undocumented and for our pantry that’s never been an issue,” Halpern said.
She said that they do ask for some documentation but immigration status has never been an issue in terms of them getting food.
“Over the last three to four months, the social worker saw a dip in the clients that were coming,” Halpern said. “She reached out to some of the clients and they informed her that they didn’t feel comfortable coming in because of their immigration status and they heard of different incidences around town.”
The S.H.O.P is offering home delivery to some of the local Five Towns and Far Rockaway clients to ensure they are able to feed their families.
“We still have clients that are concerned and scared to go out, it has gotten a little bit better,” she added. “In the beginning, it was just everywhere they went they had to watch their backs and be careful. We are still doing some of those home deliveries and make sure the client knows we are not sharing their personal information.”
Halpern said her No. 1 goal is to make sure the client has food on their table.
Solages also noted the work of Cedarhurst resident Syd Mandelbaum, who runs the Veterans Farmers Market, which is open to the community as well.
“We have donated food to the B19 Street pantry for 20 years and Gammy’s Pantry for seven years with no status issues,” Mandelbaum said.
Residents are welcome to shop at 275 Lawrence Ave., Lawrence on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“We spent a long time building up these resources and it would be unfortunate if people didn’t take advantage of these resources,” Solages said.
If anyone is in need of assistance, reach out to Solages’ office at (516)-571-6203.
