Amid Growing Food Insecurity On Staten Island, Salvation Army Begins Sit Down Meal Program, Offering Families Social Interaction With Neighbors, Friends

Staten Islanders Face Growing Food Insecurity Post-Pandemic. Salvation Army Adds Sit Down Meal Program

Did you know that one in 10 people on Staten Island face food insecurity?  

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For 20+ years, one organization, The Salvation Army Stapleton Corps and its volunteers have worked hard to ensure no local families go hungry, and that they have access to nutritious meals – without this program, many would not have anything to eat at all.

We’ve taken a look at the work the nonprofit has been doing to serve the Stapleton community, and how it has recently expanded its food service program to include sit-down meals, serving even more people than before.

The Corps serves 250 people each week between its soup kitchen and food pantry. Home cooked meals are prepared daily by a chef, and vary from tacos, baked macaroni, meatloaf, and more – along with homemade desserts like banana bread and blueberry cornbread.

The food pantry also gives out perishable and non-perishable items like pastas, canned goods, frozen meats, cereal, and fresh fruits and vegetables. The Stapleton Corps serves the 10304, 10305, 10306, 10307, 10308, 10309, 10310 ZIP codes.

Lt. Esther Mobley of the Stapleton Corps sat down with the Staten Islander News to discuss the growing need for the services they provide, and how their charity has expanded their services in order to meet the social and spiritual needs of the community.

Lt. Esther speaks about the sense of community that can form around sit down meals, where families can come together with their community and eat a meal with one another, instead of just receiving a grab and go type of meal that’s handed to them across the table.

Sitting down together fosters a real sense of community, and in so doing meets more than the physical need created by food insecurity. As more Islanders struggle financially, Salvation Army is happy to be a beacon of charity in a world where so many, including children, are in desperate need of help.

The response of the community to this new program has been very positive. They love being able to share a home cooked meal with their loved ones and their neighbors.

Learn more about their new program and the other services they offer in the video above.

Banner Image: Video cover. Image Credit – Staten Islander News 

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Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer

This byline indicates that this article was penned by a member/members of the Staten Islander News Organization office team. Our staff writers are the backbone of our newspaper, performing all sorts of important tasks like conducting interviews, investigating leads, besides writing the news stories you see.