Featured Letter: Needy neighbors deserve better

Dear Neighbors: Please don’t donate — dump instead.

With spring cleaning upon us, we go through our kitchen shelves and clear out the cans, jars and boxes of food we’ve lost our taste for, or perhaps those whose dates have expired.

Before you bag up for the local food pantry those “non-perishable” items whose shelf lives ended in 2017 or earlier, consider those who would receive such outdated food. The old saying that “beggars can’t be choosers” is as stale as last year’s bag of popcorn. Our needy neighbors who are experiencing temporary hard times or are the struggling working poor — they deserve the dignity of consuming food that will keep them healthy and not harm them.

So, please don’t donate food that has expired to local pantries. Throw it away and keep everyone safe.

The author works with Rebuilding Together Long Island and was honored earlier this year with her husband, Robert, as Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association Citizens of the Year.