The East Hampton Food Pantry’s new operations manager, Noah Gualtieri, began his volunteer work at the pantry when he was twelve years old. Now, as a recent graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore where he learned printmaking and graphic design, Noah has returned to the pantry as its full-time operations manager.
Marguerite Davidowicz, Noah’s mother, is a member of the nonprofit’s board and is happy to see her son following in her footsteps. Noah took over as operations manager between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for the pantry, but Noah took on the challenge and is ramping up into 2024.
Distributing food from behind Town Hall on Tuesday afternoons, the pantry also delivers food on Wednesdays to people who cannot make the trip themselves. Noah’s job as operations manager includes making sure there is enough food for those in need on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Most days, the pantry is emptied by the end of distribution. On February 1st, for instance, Noah said they served more than 800 people.
The pantry gets much of its food from donated foodstuffs, often coming from farmers and agencies on the East End, such as Long Island Cares and Island Harvest. A considerable amount of food also comes from donation boxes and school drives, which Noah says can add up to be a lot of food on its own.
They also receive monetary donations, which are essential in paying operating costs and purchasing food to reach the amount that they need. The pantry purchases directly from distributors who offer special prices and partnership deals, through which they obtain more perishable items like fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, milk, and eggs, which are often more difficult to come by.
The pantry provides food to families on a weekly basis in the form of a grocery bag full of dry goods. Food given is proportional to the size of the family, and Noah does his best to keep track of requests and vary the food from week to week. The pantry can supply items such as diapers and baby formula, or even pet food, alongside mainstays like canned beans, rice, pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, broth or soup, and occasionally things like ketchup.
Perishables are also proportioned carefully to make sure that each family receives some amount of red meat, chicken, or eggs, all depending on the size of the family and the ages of its members.
The pantry relies on volunteers, much like how Noah himself spent his youth helping out. While Noah says that the pantry needs volunteers every day, Tuesdays have the largest need. Currently, the pantry has between six and eight volunteers every Tuesday to help with the distribution of food. Noah says that they’re a nice, tight-knit group that makes the work enjoyable.
Donation and volunteer needs have increased steadily over recent months. In the first week of January, the pantry served over 300 more individuals than during the same time last year, and similar increases were seen in later weeks. The pantry is open to donations of foodstuffs and online money donations, and potential volunteers can contact the pantry for information.
