Long Island Cares has opened an emergency food distribution center in Glen Cove to help people struggling to feed their families during the pandemic.

Their first day open was Wednesday and they say they had 30 families waiting for assistance, that number is expected to go up.

Over the last few weeks, the organization received over 500 calls from Long Islanders seeking assistance.

The need appears to be greatest in the Glen Cove area, so two days a week, they'll open their pop-up locations to hand out food boxes. The boxes contain a supply of non-perishables for 3 to 5 days.

Over the coming weeks, they anticipate another 50,000 Long Islanders will need food assistance, which they say they are prepared for.

The organization says they dealt with similar numbers during Hurricane Sandy and have 750,000 pounds of food in their warehouse.
"It's just a crisis on top of a crisis, dealing with COVID-19 and also people self-isolating and can't get out to the supermarkets, such as our seniors. We are able to provide them with food for home delivery but now, people who are furloughed or laid off, they're going to start showing up at our pantries and our distribution sites," says Long Island Cares CEO Paule Patcher.

The emergency distribution center will be open today, and every Wednesday and Friday for the foreseeable future from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

No appointment is necessary to pick up a box. Six regular regular distribution centers, and hundreds of food banks across Long Island are still operating as well.

Next Saturday, April 11, another emergency food distribution center will open in Valley Stream.

An additional place out east on Long Island is also being thought about.