As the Covid-19 pandemic raged, between March 2020 to March 2021 the Mary Brennan Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN) soup kitchen in Hempstead served almost 240,00 meals to over 56,000 guests and almost 16,000 pantry bags of groceries were given out to families in need.
Now, a Federal grant secured for the Town of Hempstead will provide the charity with more than $300,000 in funding for reimbursement, purchase, and distribution of food items and prepared hot healthy meals. The grant was a part of CARES Act funding provided to the Town of Hempstead last year.
Millions of dollars in CARES funding was allocated by the Town of Hempstead to provide economic aid to local organizations, nonprofits, and individuals impacted by the pandemic.
“It is our pleasure to partner once again with The INN, an organization that continues to work non-stop to meet the increase in demands of families in need,” said Town Supervisor Don Clavin.
Every day, The INN receives hundreds of guests. Staff, volunteers, LVM Events, and Diane’s Desserts work together to prepare nutritious meals in volume.
As a not-for-profit, volunteer-based organization, The INN provides a broad variety of essential services to assist those challenged by hunger, homelessness and profound poverty. They partner with those in need in a dignified and respectful manner to help them achieve self-sufficiency.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of guests who need our services in the community,” said Jean Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of The INN.
She thanked the town for its support of their services during Covid.
“We have seen the extent and severity of how this pandemic has affected the guests we serve every day, but this grant is helping us combat those effects,” said Kelly.
With the CARES Act grant, The INN was able to purchase additional meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even though the organization will be closed during the holidays, they will give out holiday meals before and send each guest home with a frozen meal to heat up those days.
“It is critical to provide families and individuals with meals as well as the peace of mind of not having to think about when the next one is going to be,” said Clavin.