{"id":36297,"date":"2024-01-17T18:37:33","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T18:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gistfest.com\/?p=36297"},"modified":"2024-01-17T18:37:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T18:37:38","slug":"bronx-food-pantry-turns-families-away-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gistfest.com\/bronx-food-pantry-turns-families-away-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx Food Pantry Turns Families Away for the First Time in a Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Food
Source: New York Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the past two weeks, New Yorkers have faced heightened food insecurity. It has left the less fortunate scrambling for help from places like the Bronx food pantry. Unfortunately, even the pantry is feeling the insecurity as its shelves are bare for the first time in a decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Albanian American Open Hand Association (AAOHA), located in Pelham Parkway, used to feed around 800 weekly before the pandemic. However, that value has since doubled to 1,600. And for the first time in 10 years, the pantry has had to turn people away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food pantry president Alexander Nilaj said, \u201cIt\u2019s very heartbreaking. People line up at six or seven in the morning. We tell them: \u2018Don\u2019t wait, we have no food today.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, despite the warning, many patrons still wait until anywhere between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., hoping for a \u201cmiracle.\u201d That miracle came in the form of New York Congressman Ritchie Torres, who agreed to wire Nilaj $5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALSO READ: Concerns Grow Over Food Affordability Amid Biden\u2019s Economic Optimism<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUpon finding out that a Bronx food pantry no longer had food for the first time in a decade, I contributed, via my campaign, $5,000 to the food pantry\u2019s sponsor,\u201d Torres said. Nilaj believed it would be enough food to feed more than 1,200 last week, but for this week and subsequent weeks, he doesn\u2019t know what the pantry will do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very heartbreaking,\u201d the 52-year-old said in a phone interview. \u201cWe always had food [before], maybe not enough, but we had always food. We feed everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bronx food pantry is a private-owned business, so it doesn’t receive state or city funding. It relies mostly on donations and help from local businesses, together with the 30 volunteers who help Nilaj distribute the food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They usually cater to families and single moms, as well as the sick and elderly population across the five boroughs. But in the last two weeks, Nilaj and his team have had to watch them \u201cturn back and cry\u201d when he told them there was no food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nilaj is hoping that more donations and funding will arrive. The Albanian first started to notice his shelves dwindling last year at Christmas time. It made him start turning hundreds away even as more people came in search of food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALSO READ: Hospital Worker Fired for Refusing Flu Vaccine Mandate Wins $45,000 Settlement<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the patrons were unemployed or were just in more need due to rising costs continuing to cut into the wallets of many. \u201cIt turned very tough,\u201d Nilaj noted of the holiday season. \u201cIt\u2019s hard.\u201d He is now asking for more donations and hoping state and city governments can also pitch in to help him feed the mouths of hungry New Yorkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The shelves at a Bronx food pantry are bare for the first time in ten years due to an increase in demand that can\u2019t be matched.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":36301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"MSN_Categories":"News","MSN_Publish_Option":true,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBronx Food Pantry Turns Families Away for the First Time in a Decade - GistFest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The shelves at a Bronx food pantry are bare for the first time in ten years due to an increase in demand that can\u2019t be matched.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gistfest.com\/bronx-food-pantry-turns-families-away-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bronx Food Pantry Turns Families Away for the First Time in a Decade - 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