Try not to let the frosted windows and the hidden location fool you. The Sustenance Hope Opportunities Place in Cedarhurst is a welcoming place to all who are in need.
The S.H.O.P., a social services hub created by the Marion & Aaron Gural Jewish Community Center, aims to provide nutritional support, basic necessities, guidance and encouragement to individuals and families facing hardship. The first anniversary open house was on March. 18.
Gural JCC’s Associate Executive Director Stacey Feldman said that former Executive Director Rina Shkolnik first introduced the idea for a food pantry in 2005. “While Rina thought of the initial idea of a food pantry in 2005, it was in 2016 when our executive director at the time Joel Block wanted to have a one-stop self service place,” Feldman said.
The S.H.O.P. also offers counseling services. There are job and apartment listings posted on a bulletin board and there are computers where people can create their resumes.
“The purpose of tonight’s open house is to give our community members a look at what we do,” said Gural JCC President Steven Bernstein. “This is not just JCC knocking out your door looking for money, this is real lives that we touch everyday as we currently feed close to 300 families each month.”
Feldman said that the S.H.O.P. is needed. “In the southwest corner of Nassau County, there are currently 20,300 Jewish people living at or below the poverty line and the needs for people are growing,” she said. “That number needs to be decreased.”
To donate, drop off goods at the S.H.O.P. at 591 Marvin Mall in the Maple Plaza in Cedarhurst from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday.