Greenport Fire Department, CAST team up for winter food drive
The Greenport Fire Department is partnering with CAST for the first time to bring food assistance directly to village residents with a Feb. 21 giveaway event at the Third Street firehouse.
The giveaway will follow a food drive benefiting the Center for Advocacy, Support and Transformation that runs through Feb. 20. The Saturday, Feb. 21, event will run from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
People can drop off donations at the department’s Third Street firehouse, Floyd Memorial Library, and First and South Restaurant and Bar. The most-needed items are canned and dried foods, baby wipes, dish soap and snacks. Along with the collected items, the department will also be buying fresh produce for people to pick up.
The idea is for those in need in Greenport to avoid traveling to CAST’s headquarters in Southold to pick up items, according to volunteer firefighter and EMT Megan Barron.
“We want people to feel that the fire station is a community resource, and it’s their resource,” said Ms. Barron, who conceived the idea for the first-ever collaboration between the fire department and CAST. “All we want to do is help people.”
Ms. Barron said the fire department doesn’t judge — it helps people in whatever situation they’re in. The department responded to 1,221 calls last year, most of them for medical emergencies.
“In this cold weather, maybe it’s easier for someone who’s helping a family to just walk over and get something,” she said. “We are the people who are there on the worst day, no matter what it is, but here’s another thing we could do.”
Greenport Fire Department Chief David Nyce said Ms. Barron presented the idea to the department, citing that the time after the holidays is when some families need the most support.
“While there are outlets within the community, we still see a need for additional support [for] those who are challenged or trying to make ends meet,” Mr. Nyce said.
Sarina Harley, CAST’s food relief program manager, said the group has seen an uptick of roughly 10% to 15% in the number of families coming in to start the year. She said this additional collection will help ensure the needs of the increased number of people in need of assistance are met.
“It’s really not an ideal time of year, especially this year, given the weather for us to collect,” said CAST executive director Erica Steindl. “We have our standard collections but not a special food drive. This is an opportunity to broaden that.”
CAST was founded in 1965 through an alliance of concerned citizens and local church leaders as part of the “War on Poverty” movement launched a year earlier by then-president Lyndon B. Johnson during a State of the Union address.
Since then, the organization has evolved into the North Fork’s leading provider of essential programs and services for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families.
