Food pantry leaders share best practices for effective holiday giving

Food pantry leaders share best practices for effective holiday giving

Published: Nov. 09, 2025, 7:00 a.m.

St. Edmunds Food Pantry
Food pantries often stock up for the year during holiday drives. Pictured here is the interior of a trailer operated by St. Edmund’s Food Pantry, which serves families on Fridays in three one-hour shifts to reduce crowding and improve efficiency.(Advance/SILive.com | Pamela Silvestri)

By Pamela Silvestri | silvestri@siadvance.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — As the holiday season approaches, food drives across Staten Island are ramping up to meet growing community needs. In preparation, local pantry leaders are sharing best practices for edible donations to ensure that contributions are both helpful and safe. Over the years of their service, they’ve offered their sage advice.

Joe “Preach” Meizlik of the South Shore Community Food Pantry in Tottenville presented practical advice: “People will take anything. But this time of year, they want cranberry sauce, bagged or boxed stuffing mixes, rice … Hopefully people are going to get lucky and get a turkey.”

Turkey
Turkeys at ShopRite are typically donated to Staten Islanders by the Mannix family, owners of the borough’s ShopRite supermarkets. Their generosity makes them a key source of turkeys for pantry giveaways across the Island.Staff-Shot

Joe Bertone of the St. Clare’s pantry emphasized the importance of quality and consideration. “Don’t give expired things or open packages. People just clean out their pantries. If it’s something you don’t want to eat, why give it to somebody else?” he said.

Bertone recommends donating universal staples such as peanut butter, tuna fish, salmon, canned tomato sauce, cooking oil, and pasta. Grocery store gift cards are especially appreciated, he added. He also advised against donating glass jars, which are difficult to stack and prone to breakage.

Project Hospitality-run centers encourage donations of boxed cold and hot cereals. The organization notes that jelly packaged in plastic or portion-control sizes is preferred. Administrators also suggest including practical items like plastic or reusable bags to help pantry clients pack up food easily.

Food pantry Thanksgiving
As students pack up donations during food drives, sturdy bags—preferably new—are essential for safely transporting food. Pantries welcome these practical items and can be reached via the contact information below. Pamela Silvestri

In addition to food, cold-weather clothing donations are welcome. Items such as caps, gloves, scarves, sweaters, flannel shirts and thermal underwear are in high demand as temperatures drop.

For those interested in donating turkeys or other items mentioned above, here are useful contact points:

Visit the silive.com home page