First Church organizes pop-up pantry in Baldwin

We, as a church, should be doing more local community work for our neighbors right here in Baldwin.”

The Rev. Claire Wu, pastor

First Church Baldwin United Methodist recently launched a mission to help feed those in need at a local housing development in Baldwin.

Church member Valerie Geasor and other volunteers collected nonperishable food items and set up a pop-up pantry at Halandia Shores on June 27.

The development houses a variety of residents, including seniors and people with disabilities. More than 30 residents came to the community room to wait on line and select the items they needed, Geasor explained.

It all started because of a Facebook thread. About two months ago, a local woman posted that she had tried to donate food to Halandia Shores, Geasor said, but wasn’t gaining traction. The development had stopped receiving assistance in the winter.

Thinking she had to act fast, Geasor contacted a woman from Halandia Shores and delivered about $75 worth of food. Then she mentioned it to the church.

“We decided that we wanted to kind of embrace this as an outreach program,” she said, “and how great it is that it’s local.”

First Church members are committed to charity work, and this is not their first effort. In the past, members have undertaken mission work in Far Rockaway and Belize, and have donated gifts to older adults in Nassau County at Christmas.

“We, as a church, should be doing more local community work for our neighbors right here in Baldwin,” the Rev. Claire Wu, the church’s pastor, wrote in a newsletter. “We need to reach past ourselves to those God has placed around us by promoting Christ’s love through outreach to the community and the world.”

Some residents said they no longer felt “forgotten about.”

“We, the seniors living at Halandia Shores, would like to thank the First Church in Baldwin for your generous donations,” Cathie Staiano said on Facebook. “Special thanks to Bonnie Schneider and Valerie Beaudry Geasor for your time and patience. We would like to have this pantry monthly, and if anyone can donate to the church, please do so.”

Anyone who wishes to donate may drop off nonperishable food items in the collection box outside the doors that lead to the church office. The church is at 881 Merrick Road. Geasor said monetary donations are also being accepted, and help to fill in any need for certain items. The money allows her to buy the more popular food items that go quickly, like oatmeal, applesauce, coffee, peanut butter crackers, soups and pastas, as well as fresh produce.

To send a monetary donation, mail a check to the church, and make sure it specifies in the legend that it is for the food pantry. To reach Geasor, call or text her at (516) 851-9215.

Geasor said she would like to see the mission continue, and hopes donations are robust enough to do so. 

“I believe in God, and I believe in the spirit that comes through,” Geasor said, “and I definitely feel like I was meant to do this mission. The way things fell into place and all these signs and all these little things that happened, it just confirmed to me that this is what I need to do to help.”