www.qns.com MARCH 25, 2022 4RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Ridgewood food pantries limit operations as city funding gets cut
Ridgewood food pantries like the Hungry Monk are struggling to meet the demand after City Hall drastically decreased
funding. Photo by Angélica Acevedo
one week to last until May. The fate of the
P-FRED program is up in the air, leaving
pantries scared and families desperate. According
to Peterson, Woodbine was given
a grant of $12,000 to last through April,
though he said his pantry usually spends
about $8,000 in just one week.
“They effectively cut the funding overnight
with no real warning, notice or
explanation and no communication about
what’s next,” Peterson.
A City Hall spokesperson confirmed that
the city is re-evaluating the need for the
P-FRED program.
“Food pantries have been a lifeline for
New Yorkers facing food insecurity, especially
during the pandemic,” the City
Hall spokesperson said in a statement to
QNS. “We are evaluating shifting needs
and funding options through the budget
process and look forward to engaging with
our partners at the state and federal levels
to ensure these institutions have resources
to continue serving New Yorkers in need.”
Local pantries say there is no need to reassess
the need since they are still seeing
huge waves of families coming through
their facilities every week.
Father Mike Lopez, the leader of Hungry
Monk, said that he found out about
this news, not by any official communication
from the city, but when his food
orders just didn’t show up.
“We had nothing. We were closed. This
was the first time since March 2020 we
didn’t have a fully stocked pantry,” Lopez
said. “The fact that we’re not able to get
food out to our people is the hardest part.”
Lopez doesn’t deny that the need for
food has decreased since the height of the
pandemic. However, he called on the city to
realize there are still lingering economic
hardships along with inflation costs making
it nearly impossible for struggling families.
“At the height of the pandemic, we served
10,000 families a week and now we’re doing
around 3,500 families a week,” Lopez said.
“There was food insecurity pre-pandemic. It
went up during the pandemic, and it’s still
up now. With gas prices changing and food
prices, people don’t have the resources to
make ends meet at the grocery stores.”
Lopez said his pantry serves people
from all over the city, not just Ridgewood.
He added that with his new budget, he will
only be able to operate for one more day.
Maria Pérez said she and her family rely
heavily on Hungry Monk as a single mom
with a disabled child. Pérez shared that
without the food Hungry Monk provides
twice a week, her family would go hungry.
“I can only work part-time and I don’t have
papers,” Pérez said. “I am an immigrant and
have lived here for 15 years. As prices for
food have risen so much, I will have no
choice but to feed my children and miss
meals for myself.”
In an email to pantries across the
city, the Human Resources Administration,
which oversees P-FRED, said the
program was supplemental during the
pandemic but is “winding down.”
“We understand that these allocations
are much lower than very recent P-FRED
demand, but we are pleased that we
were able to work within our budget to
ensure we can continue to provide some
supplemental produce until our new
Emergency Food Assistance Program
contracts are in place,” said the email.
The city will decide on the fiscal
budget by July 1. Until then, pantries
are in the dark, unsure of whether they
will still receive supplemental funding
from the city which has helped so many
families survive.
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Ridgewood food pantries are struggling
to meet the demand after City
Hall drastically decreased funding as
they reassess the current needs of pantries
before fiscal year 2022-2023.
The Pandemic Food Reserve Emergency
Distribution Program (P-FRED) was established
in 2020 to distribute fresh and shelfstable
food to over 400 feeding programs in
the city as the COVID-19 pandemic increased
food insecurity. Before Mayor Eric Adams
was inaugurated, food pantry organizers
in Ridgewood worried whether his administration
would continue to prioritize this
program.
Matt Peterson from Woodbine, a local
food pantry in Ridgewood, said that even
though the city is no longer in the throes
of the pandemic, families still need a lot
of help.
“There’s this tendency to want to move
on from the pandemic and move on from
the crisis, and for many people, they’re
able to do that economically, but a lot of
people can’t,” Peterson said. “The crisis
is still felt by a lot of people in a deep way,
including a lot of people in Ridgewood.
Without P-FRED, we would be in a much
tighter spot.”
Woodbine and Hungry Monk, along
with pantries across the city, said they
are receiving just more than the amount
of funding they would typically use for
Ridgewood Property Owners & Civic
Association, Inc.
“After 90 years of community service we’re still building
a reputation, not resting on one!”
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