New Food Pantry Opens In Eastern Queens

QUEENS VILLAGE, QUEENS — Nonprofit social services organization Commonpoint Queens has opened a food pantry at Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village.

The food pantry opened Dec. 15 in partnership with the Martin Van Buren High School Alumni Alliance and has started distributing non-perishable and fresh food outside the school building to students and their families and residents of the neighborhood.

Commonpoint Queens chose the school as the pantry's location because its students have a high rate of food insecurity compared to the general population, the nonprofit said in a news release.

About 77 percent of the 1,200-plus students who attend Van Buren are classified as economically disadvantaged, and 96 percent of students come from minority backgrounds, according to U.S. News & World Report.

"NYC public schools are more than institutions of learning. They are hubs for a wide range of services needed by students and their families to succeed,” Danielle Ellman, CEO of Commonpoint Queens, said in a statement. “The partnership with Martin Van Buren High School will help us fulfill one of the key components of our mission: ensuring that children are healthy and ready to learn."

Food distribution takes place outside the school Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Those who want to support the pantry are being asked to donate toiletries, personal hygiene products and spices, or make monetary contributions.

The Van Buren pantry is Commonpoint Queens' fourth food pantry. The nonprofit also runs food pantries in Forest Hills, Little Neck and Elmhurst.

The opening of the food pantry comes as an estimated 1.5 million New Yorkers struggle to feed themselves and their families, according to City Harvest.

Before the coronavirus crisis began, an estimated 35 million people across the United States did not have enough food to eat. That number is projected to surpass 50 million in the pandemic, according to the nonprofit Feeding America.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.