Sacred Heart Food Pantry in Queens runs out of food; seeking donations

QUEENS, N.Y. - The Sacred Heart Food Pantry at 77-05 84th Street in Queens is running out of food. 

Administrator Tara Jackson points to numerous empty Parish Ministries’ Convent Basement shelves. 

Residents living in the Glendale, Ridgewood, and Forest Hills neighborhoods have come to rely on the pantry, which was brimming with canned food, boxed meals, dry pasta, and personal care items during Christmas.  

"And that's hard for us too because we'd like to be able to help them more," Jackson said.  

Jackson says the pantry serves hundreds of people each month, who are allowed to pack two bags of non-perishable food twice a month. Whether it's top Ramen, Mac and Cheese, or tuna fish, they make it stretch long enough to get them through until their next payday.  

"It could be your neighbor, it could be somebody your kid goes to school with, it could be all types of people," Jackson said.   

It seems after the holiday season, when the weather gets colder, and people hole up inside their homes, the generosity of donations dries up. 

However, unlike previous years, the need is greater. 

Jackson says the people she assists are out-of-work parents, looking for a job, grappling with less income and higher inflation. 

That's why Sacred Heart is asking for canned meat and vegetables, shelf-stable milk, pancake mix, oatmeal, cereal, pasta, cooking oil, flour, and instant potatoes. 

 And while shopping at the store, if you see a sale on soap, toothpaste, and deodorant, they're asking to please, pick some up for their pantry. 

"It could be somebody on the street," Jackson said. "But it could be somebody that won't have supper that night. But if they have something here, that they can take home, they can feed their children." 

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