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Fair Gammy’s Pantry remains vital as pandemic drags on
A little over a year since the coronavirus pandemic began, Gammy’s Pantry, in the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence, has continued to help those in need of food. Pantry founder Sasha Young said that the need remains constant.
Young, an Inwood resident, created the pantry two years ago, inspired by her grandmother Betty Young, whom she called Gammy. While it is open to anyone in the Town of Hempstead, a majority of users are from the Five Towns and Valley Stream.
The facility serves as many as 150 people at a time, and collects food for many more at home. When the pandemic spread last year, the pantry became part of a Long Island Cares site that now distributes even more food to people in need. Young said that since last March 13, the pantry has been open every day.
“We’re almost 380 days without a day off,” she said. “Any Tuesday or Thursday from 2:45 to 3 p.m., it’s crazy here. There are 175 people on line at times, and there’s barely any room to walk around.”
Eloise Thomas, of Inwood, said she has been involved with the community center since 1982, serving as a board member and accountant. She has worked with the pantry since the pandemic began, and said its determination to stay open is what the community center is all about.
“I said to Sasha at the beginning of the pandemic that it would be a great idea to keep Gammy’s Pantry open as a sign of hope to community members,” Thomas said. “We felt it was important to keep helping our community during a tough time like this.”
Thomas added that the pantry has been a place where people can get whatever they need, judgment-free. “We want to continue to help our local residents of all backgrounds at the community center,” she said. “I’ve chatted with people who’ve come in from other pantries and expressed their pleasure with how we operate.”
When the Herald visited the community center on Monday night, Young was not only busy at the pantry, but also checking in on the Police Athletic League basketball clinic in the gym, where she fielded questions from parents about scheduling, volunteering and upcoming events. Earlier in the day, the center had been a Covid vaccination site, inoculating roughly 400 people, according to Executive Director K. Brent Hill.
Over the past year, more young people have volunteered at the pantry. Roughly 30 teenage volunteers have helped Young manage the philanthropic activities at the community center. They have created a community garden, and advocated for the Nassau County Police Department to re-establish the PAL programs there.
“I’m really proud of the kids who volunteer here,” Young said. “All these kids can be anywhere else, but they choose to be here. That makes me feel good and that we’re doing something great here.” While Young was talking with the Herald, a 10-year-old boy named Anthony came up to her and told her he was interested in volunteering on weekends.
Angel Bran, 15, one of the volunteers, said that while the work has been difficult at times, the number of people they have helped has made it all worthwhile. “I’ll never forget the hard summer of working outside in the heat packing boxes up,” Angel said. “The hard work was worth it when you would see the families smile. Even through their masks, you can see how happy they were to be receiving food.”
Angel’s sister, Natalie, a senior at Lawrence High School, said she had been coming to the center since she was in elementary school, and was still spending time there as she prepared to head to Columbia University in the fall. “I feel like volunteering here is such a rewarding thing to do,” Natalie said. “I’m going away to college soon, and I’m going to miss doing this on a regular basis.”
Young’s daughter, Alexis Acosta, 15, said that the appreciation shown by the families in need has been heartwarming. “There’s a good amount of people that come back and are thankful and say how much the pantry has helped their family,” Alexis said. “It shows that we’re doing something impactful for the community.”
Going forward, Young said, she was hopeful and excited about the community center and the pantry. “To continue, we’re going to need some grants and funding, because we rely on donations only,” she said. “We’re doing something great, and we don’t have a bunch of money or flashy things. We just have really nice people who want to make a difference.”
Working with others at the community center, Young said, gives her a sense of family. “On earth, I only have five people left on my bloodline that live in West Virginia,” she said. “[Here] we fight, we laugh, we go through it all. At the end of the day, we’re a family.”
One of the things that has kept Young motivated since last March is making people happy. “I love seeing people smile,” she said. “Knowing that you can give them hope during a time like this is a great feeling.”
