Pictured: Volunteers and staff getting ready for our food distribution drive-thru

In March, our groceries provided 47,555 meals for local families! We have almost made it through our busiest seasons. Spring has sprung which means our clients are starting to have more hours of work each week.

Spring also has us thinking about all the beauty that surrounds us. Continue reading to see how you can help us to love our planet and our neighbors.

This newsletter is a call to action. There are so many ways you can get involved to help our neighbors and beyond!

To support our mission, donate here.

Pictured: Volunteer Steve Dore with Maribel and Maripaz packing bags for our clients

In the month of March, we had 1502 visits to our food pantry. We almost can't believe these numbers each month. The past year and a half has been the busiest time in our 44-year history by far. We are flying through food and struggling to even have enough space to keep what we need each week. We have provided 141,947 meals worth of food to our community already this year.

For the Easter holiday, everyone received eggs and a 4th bag of groceries for families to celebrate with special treats for their kids and extra meals while children are off from school. We made sure that 352 students who rely on school meals had enough ready-to-eat food at home.

Make a donation to help us ensure no one in our community goes hungry!

Want to do more to help us have enough food?

 Sign Up if you are willing to pick up food from a local retailer that wants to donate to us.

Did you know that Americans waste 80 billion tons of food each year?! In the US alone, the production of lost or wasted food generates the equivalent of 32.6 million cars worth of greenhouse gas emissions.

A big thank you to Citarella, Carissa's, Golden Pear, Goldberg's Bagels, Tate's Bakeshop, and North Sea Farms. All of these great retailers donate baked goods and prepared food instead of seeing them go to waste. Do you know a retailer that might want to help reduce waste and feed our customers? Contact us.

Pictured: Molly and Maripaz meeting clients at the Coalition for Women's Cancers Health Fair

As part of our Assistance Program, in the month of March, we:

• Hosted a Project Warmth application program to help our customers receive grants to help with home heating and electric bills.

• Helped families sign up for SNAP (Food Stamps).

• Attended the Coalition for Women's Cancers Health Fair to provide information on our support for families facing a health crisis like transportation, rent support, utility support, and anything else they may need to get by during a difficult time.

• Assisted 14 families with emergency financial support.

We are able to be a crucial safety net thanks to donors like you. 

Want to do more to help? Sign up here to organize a diaper drive to help us provide diapers every week to our customers.

Pictured: Volunteers Kim and Santa along with Maribel and Robin sorting donated clothing

Did you know each year we accept almost 20,000lbs of used clothing? That's 10 tons of clothing that we are saving from a landfill.

Every item that we don't gift to a client is further recycled by Big Brothers Big Sisters. The clothing we can't use helps to support their incredible work mentoring children by being sold at thrift stores or further recycled to make filler for couches and chairs.

The average American throws away 81lbs of clothing each year. It's estimated that 85% of our clothing ends up in landfills. Help us to save clothes from being wasted and provide them to families in need. Contact us for best drop off times.

We’re entering the final weeks of the state budget process and now is the critical time for your voice to be heard in support of emergency food support programs.

You can click here, to join Feeding New York State to let your representatives know that these programs cannot be cut. We need full funding to ensure we can continue to fight hunger here on Long Island.

The online petition will let your representatives know that you believe in the following priorities:

• Make the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) minimum benefit $100 per month. SNAP is the nation's most impactful nutrition assistance program, helping nearly 3 million New Yorkers afford food and groceries. SNAP has been proven to reduce poverty, improve public health outcomes, and stimulate local economies.

• Fully fund universal school meals, providing free breakfast and lunch to all students across the state.

• Provide $75 million for Nourish New York to enable food banks to support NY families with NY-grown produce. Since 2020, Nourish New York has provided hungry families with over 70 million pounds of healthy, nutritious food from over 4,000 producers across the state.

• Provide $64 million to New York's Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) which helps support NY-based food banks, food pantries, emergency shelters, and community-based organizations that work on the frontlines in the fight against hunger.

• Expand the New York State’s child tax credit.

Please sign the petition and circulate to your friends and family. Together, we will continue to fight against food insecurity.  

MARCH SPOTLIGHT

Warner Painting saw a post about our new home and offered to paint the whole thing for FREE! We are so grateful for their incredible generosity! ❤ THANK YOU ❤

Check them out for your next painting project: https://www.warnerpaintinginc.com/

 Want to stay up to date? Click here to follow us on instagram and stay current on all that's happening at Heart of the Hamptons.

• AFTEE
• Alternatives for Children
• Amber Waves
• ARF Hamptons
• Argento Southampton
• Basilica Parish of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
• Book Fairies
• Boyscouts Troup 58
• Bridgehampton UFSD
• Bridge Lane Farms
• Catena's Market
• Citarella
• Compass Cares
• Corwith Farms
• Douglas Elliman
• East End Food Institute
• First Presbyterian Church
• Flour Power
• Food Rescue South Fork
• Goldberg's
• Golden Pear Cafe
• Halsey Farms
• Hampton Bays UFSD
• Hamptons United
• Hamptons United Methodist Church
• HAPCO Farms/Fresh from the Start 
• Hometown Taxi
• Island Harvest
• Jones and Little
• Kiwanis Club
• The Gertrude and Leonard McComb Foundation

• Long Island Cares
• Long Island Community Foundation
• Mayor Bill Manger and the Village Board of Trustees 
• North Sea Farms
• Old Town Lodge Free Masons
• Organización Latino-Americana
• Pajama Program
• Peconic Prime Meats
• Pro Bono Partnership
• Propane Depot
• Provisions
• Rogers Family Farm
• Rogers Memorial Library
• Sabrosa Mexican Grill
• Sag Harbor UFSD
• Share the Harvest
• Slow Food East End
• Sotheby's International Realty
• Southampton Little League
• Southampton History Museum
• Southampton Rotary
• Southampton Union Free School District
• Spanish Apostolate 
• Supervisor Jay Schneiderman and the Southampton Town Board
• Supplies for Success
• SYS Recreation Center
• Tate's
• The Children's School
• The Green Thumb
• Tuckahoe CSD
• Twin Forks Fuel 

Thank you for your incredible support!

1. What is the best way to help?

Monetary donations directly help us to feed our neighbors in need. Donate here!

2. Are you accepting food or clothing donations?

Currently, we are not accepting any clothing. We will resume as soon as we move to our new home. We are accepting food donations. The drop-off times are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10AM-2PM. Please call our office upon arrival (631-283-6415).

3. Do you need volunteers?

Yes! Please sign up on our website here. 

4. How does one register for the food pantry?

One can register ahead by calling our office (631-283-6415) to speak with our bilingual staff. New customers are welcome to visit during food pantry hours- Wednesdays and Fridays from 10AM-12PM. Upon arrival, they will be asked to fill out a registration form and provide valid identification. This form is used solely for reporting numbers to the food bank, so we receive enough food to feed our customers.

Our mission is simple - to help people in our local community who are in need with dignity and without discrimination. For the past 44 years, we've been able to do that together. We thank you!

Warmest regards,