On Monday, November 17, FA members went shopping at the unionized Holbrook Costco to help fill the three campus food pantries; clockwise from top left are Andrew Stone, FA President Dante Morelli, Deanna Downs and Donna Krompinger. (photo by Cynthia Eaton)

The carts grew heavier as we maneuvered them up and down the wide aisles of the Holbrook Costco, choosing items based on each campus’ needs and talking through what we thought would be most useful for students. As the four of us were grabbing boxes from the shelves and loading them into our carts, we called out prices while FA Secretary Cynthia Eaton kept a running total. It made for a fun, energetic and slightly chaotic scene.

We had $1,500 to spend—$500 worth of groceries for each of our three campus food pantries—and about an hour to do it.

On Monday, November 17, we accomplished just that, then brought our two carloads of donations back to the college to divvy them up for transport to the Ammerman, Grant and Eastern Campus pantries.

Each year, the FA donates to the campus food pantries with funding approved by our 40-member Executive Council. While the pantries are mostly well stocked at this time, we continue to encourage FA members to keep donating through the spring semester when provisions tend to wane after the big holiday season.

When asked to help FA officers Dante Morelli and Cynthia Eaton as well as colleague Andrew Stone with the Costco shop, we each gave an enthusiastic yes. Donna said, “It is important to me to treat all students with kindness, the way I would want others to treat my kids. I believe every student deserves to focus on their education without stressing about their next meal. The FA’s contribution was incredible, but if more members joined in we could provide even greater support to our students and families.”

Deanna added, “It seemed like a great way to give back to our students while also spending time with my colleagues and supporting the FA. Giving back is always fulfilling, but when you know exactly who you’re helping, it becomes much more personal. We see every day how hard our students work, and we do what we can to support their success inside and outside the classroom. Helping with the food pantries felt like a small but concrete way to make a difference, and I was glad to be part of it.”

Student need is growing

FA adjunct Andrew Stone (Cybersecurity), a former EC rep and NYSUT/AFT delegate, was eager to assist with the project. He explained that “because the FA does so much to help its members, students and the community, the time I put into a trip to Costco to help pick up food for the college food banks seems small in comparison.” He is also acutely aware of student need:

The effort our students put into learning is already significant. I can imagine how adding food insecurity makes that challenge overwhelming. As we were adding food to the carts I was imagining, or hoping, that each item could improve someone’s outlook, even for a moment. These efforts can add up the moments in ways that help our students to focus on their education and ultimately to change their lives.

	Stocking the FA pantry donations at the Grant Campus are, from left, Ash Virgil, Joe Oliver (in hat), Julio Avila (Suffolk sweatshirt), Nelson Santos (tall, in back), Abby Avila and Fernanda Sorto (wearing glasses), FA Treasurer Pete DiGregorio, Student Activities Counselor Tara Fagan, and ETU Specialist II Steven Evans. (photo by Ash Virgil)

Our colleagues who help run the campus food pantries know all too well that student need is growing. Of the Ammerman Campus food pantry, Counselor Tom Law shared, “Our recent outreach was met with an outpouring of generosity. Thanks to the kindness of our community, we are able to keep our shelves well stocked and provide support to students facing food insecurity throughout the semester. FA donations also helped us provide Thanksgiving meals, complete with turkeys, traditional fixings and a supermarket gift card for students in need. We are truly grateful for the FA’s compassion and unwavering support.”

The Eastern Campus food pantry also benefitted from the FA contributions. “I am on the CARES team at the college and the theme for this year has definitely been student financial struggles,” explained Eastern Campus Activities Director Denny Teason, “and we’ve seen a lot of students struggling with the basics: food, transportation, utilities and especially housing. I think the pandemic real estate jump has really squeezed families, and we are seeing Long Island become more unaffordable for society’s most vulnerable people.”

Because of this financial squeeze, Denny continued,

The campus food pantry helps to lighten that burden—the stress that comes with living paycheck to paycheck—for students facing housing, utilities and transportation challenges. It is a valuable resource for them. One issue is that 80% of our donations come in November and December, with the majority of the food coming from Long Island Cares during the rest of the year. LI Cares, however, has taken funding hits upon the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, and what they are able to supply has really thinned out in the last year.

Long Island need is growing—so please keep giving

As Denny has indicated, we know that Long Island is growing increasingly unaffordable so of course this is reflected in our students and their families. For example, a May 16, 2025, Newsday article reported that

A 2024 survey by Hauppauge-based food bank Long Island Cares found that 8% of respondents using food bank programs from Hampton Bays to Freeport come from households with incomes of $50,000 to $75,000—good pay in much of the country but barely enough to get by here. Leaders of another major food bank, Melville-based Island Harvest, say they are on track to deliver 20 million pounds of food in 2025, a 9% increase from last year.

Food insecurity—living with limited or uncertain access to adequate food—is growing on Long Island. A report this month from Feeding America, a national network of food banks and meal services, counted 240,470 food-insecure Long Islanders for 2023, the most recent year available, a 10% increase from 2022.

	At the Eastern Campus, it was a group effort to unload donations and fill the pantry; from left are student peer mentor Genevieve Burrell, Campus Activities PA Gianna Mandera, Campus Activities Principal Office Assistant Charlotte Serrano and Public Safety Officer Jim Mockler. (photo by Cynthia Eaton)

And just last week, a Newsday guest essay by Sherry Tucker, CEO of WellLife Network, illustrated how things have only grown worse throughout the year:

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” enacted this year cuts $187 billion of SNAP funding over the next decade, a 20% reduction, as new rules push people out of the program. The federal government has also cut $500 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, about a quarter of its funding, significantly reducing the fresh food available to food pantries nationwide.

What does this mean for the FA and our students? We are asking that fellow FA members continue to donate to the campus food pantries, not just around the holiday season but throughout the year. While the generosity we see during the holidays is truly remarkable, food pantries tend to see a dip in donations in late winter and throughout the spring months.

Helping the FA complete their shopping was a wonderful experience and has us thinking about additional ways we can contribute, like setting up a donation box in our building or running food drives at some of our events. We encourage all our faculty to keep our students in mind as we enter the spring semester and consider ways—big or small—you can help fight hunger on our campuses.

Since hunger knows no season, we hope that you, like us, will continue to check in the campus food pantries, get a copy of their pantry wish lists and donate as generously as you can.

• Ammerman: ammrfoodpantry@sunysuffolk.edu
• Eastern: eastfoodpantry@sunysuffolk.edu
• Grant: grantfoodpantry@sunysuffolk.edu.
  
  

In the photo at left, Donna Krompinger, Deanna Downs, Dante Morelli and Andrew Stone load up groceries at the Costco checkout. At right, Deanna and Donna celebrate that their smart shopping maximized the amount of groceries we obtained given the total FA donation amount. (photos by Cynthia Eaton)