Food drive held to help residents in Glen Cove after fire destroyed pantry

Volunteers along with Emerge, a Long Island nursing and rehabilitation facility, joined forces to come up with ways to help the community.

News 12 Staff

Nov 4, 2021, 7:33 PM

Updated 1,045 days ago

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A food drive was held Thursday to help residents in Glen Cove following a fire last summer that destroyed the community's food pantry.
The fire destroyed the VFW, which was home to the North Shore Soup Kitchen. Volunteers along with Emerge, a Long Island nursing and rehabilitation facility, joined forces to come up with ways to help the community.
Christine Rice, the chairwoman of the North Shore Soup Kitchen, says there have been so many people helping them look for a new location. The food pantry is currently at St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church in Glen Cove.
"We thought that we would make it easy for the community to just drive through and drop food off," says Kathy Santucci, community liaison for Emerge Nursing and Rehab.
Rice says the food drive will help her organization distribute even more food to families who need it.
Rice says it is still unclear as to what caused the massive fire that destroyed 23 refrigerators and freezers full of meat and produce.
Louise Michal, of Glen Cove, says it's upsetting to hear what happened to the VFW. She's glad that she can help in a small way.
"It's nice that we remember people less fortunate than we are," says Michal.
Anyone who couldn't make it to the food drive can still donate items at St. Hyacinth Church Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.