At Walt Whitman High, food pantry lets students 'pay it forward'
In a bustling cafeteria at Walt Whitman High School in South Huntington, four students with a range of disabilities huddled around their teacher Monday to learn the shopping list to restock an on-campus food pantry.
Pasta, meat sauce, cake frosting, and oatmeal were among the foods on the list for the students’ weekly school bus ride to a nearby Stop & Shop. The grocery trips help to replenish the in-school pantry, which plays crucial roles in the South Huntington community: feeding residents living with food insecurity and giving students with disabilities the opportunity to develop their vocational and academic skills.
“Alright, you guys excited?” asked Corrine McLaughlin, a special education Life Skills vocational teacher at the high school.
“Yeah,” responded several students.
Their work with the food pantry comes after the 2020 Census showed that nearly half of the roughly 5,700 students in South Huntington district schools lived in households below the poverty level, according to district officials.
“So, it's really about our kids — who generally work on so many things that many of us take for granted, but it gives them an opportunity to pay it forward and help other people who need help as well,” McLaughlin said.
The pantry was founded in 2020 by then-student Kristina Lineen, who wanted to help with food insecurity among her classmates, according to the school district. Now, it is used by between 25 and 40 families every other week. Wednesday will be the last time it’s open before picking back up in January.
There are no requirements on who can receive the food. School staff say people who don’t have children in the school district have come in.
Students keep the pantry stocked through two $10,000 gifts from Stop & Shop. Donors from the community have also helped buy bins and other items that might not necessarily be food.
John Murphy, principal at Walt Whitman High, said the pantry also offers a helping hand for parents while showing that the school is civically engaged in the community.
And in turn, when school officials need to interact with students of parents who have used the pantry, their guard might not be as high.
“It’s just a way to kind of bridge that communication and strengthen it,” he said.
At the grocery store Monday, senior Bianny Brito Alvarez, 17, offered a helping hand to classmate Anderson Argueta Mencos, 14, a freshman.
The two found the aisle for pasta and meat sauce. She picked up the pasta sauce from the shelves while he used a price scanner on the items.
McLaughlin asked them what was the better deal? The three for $5 for the name brand or four for $5 from another brand. Anderson chose the store brand.
Senior Aliz Araujo Raymundo, 17, Argueta Mencos and sophomore Adrianna Figueroa, 15, shopped in the canned fruit section.
Once they were done, the students checked out, packed the items into the back of the school bus and made their way back to campus. In the pantry, they unpacked the groceries, put the items in plastic containers and placed them on the shelves.
“It makes me happy to give other people food,” Brito Alvarez said. Of the work, she said, it gives helps her give insight into what the future holds.
Education: Howard University
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.
Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation; New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting; Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.
