On Good Friday, Long Island's largest Catholic Church pantry set to get its largest donation — from the Mormon church 

The food pantry at the poorest Catholic parish on Long Island is running low, but major help is on the way — and because of a snowstorm in Wyoming it will arrive on Good Friday.

The Mormon church — formally known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — is shipping 40,000 pounds of food from its national headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, to the pantry at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Roman Catholic Church in Wyandanch.

The food donation, the largest ever received by the Gerald J. Ryan Outreach Center, was supposed to arrive on Thursday, but the weather got in the way.

“I am amazed,” said Noelle Campbell, executive director of the pantry, the largest of any Catholic parish in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

“I know now it’s God because it’s on Good Friday,” she said. “It will be a good Friday indeed.”

Good Friday marks the day Jesus was crucified some 2,000 years ago. It is the most solemn day of the year for Christians, and many, including those on Long Island, will attend services to commemorate Jesus' death.

It will be followed by Easter Sunday, marking what the faithful believe was his resurrection — the most important day of the year for Christians — and a time of great joy and hope.

Missionary sent to parish

Campbell, the longtime director of the pantry, says she is feeling that joy and sense of the miraculous.

It started when the Latter-day Saints sent a young volunteer, or missionary, to work at the parish part time in 2021.

Latter-day Saints service missionaries typically spend up to two years doing volunteer work between the ages of 18 and 25 at charities around the country and the world, said Robert Martin, an elder in the church who along with his wife, Camilla, is service mission leader for the New York area.

As the volunteer in Wyandanch got to know the food pantry operation, which serves 1,000 families a month, Martin suggested that the Latter-day Saints might be able to help it with supplies.

The Latter-day Saints grow food around the country at farms, orchards and ranches they own, and send it to disadvantaged communities, Martin said.

In 2022, the church donated $1 billion worth of food and supplies to 190 countries, including some hit by natural disasters that also needed blankets, clothing, medical supplies and other items, he said. They often partner with organizations such as Catholic Charities, the American Red Cross and UNICEF.

He and other Mormon leaders thought the idea of sending food to Wyandanch fit right into their mission.

“It’s a long time coming, because there are so many needs around the world,” he said. “You just don’t know who to help first.”

Trailer to arrive Good Friday

The 53-foot-long truck left Salt Lake City on Monday. It contains food that is nonperishable and can be stored for weeks or months.

The quantity is so great, Campbell said, that the church in Wyandanch will share some of it with other parishes and other nonprofits such as Pronto in Brentwood.

“We have no food, so it’s coming at the right time,” she said. “It’s a big deal for us.”

The church will be getting assistance unloading the 24 pallets of food — no small job — since a forklift will be required. Covanta, a waste management company with facilities in Babylon and Westbury, is bringing a forklift and workers who will volunteer their time. Members of the parish and other volunteers, including some Latter-day Saints, will help out too.

The delivery is especially meaningful for the pantry since it has struggled in the past. Some 15 years ago, the Ryan outreach center and other parts of the parish were destroyed by a fire that police said was set by an arsonist. The center operated out of trailers for six years until finally reopening in 2014 in a new facility.

That the delivery truck from Utah was delayed a day and will now arrive on Good Friday only makes this moment more special, Campbell said.

“That makes it even more of a miraculous experience for us,” she said. “You think it’s you controlling everything, but God has a role.”