Combating Coronavirus

Updated 8/10/2020 - Due to the coronavirus pandemic and major changes have taken place at Community Solidarity food shares to enhance the safety of the general public and our volunteers. We are here to help you, and help all who are in need in these times - please understand our rules which are designed to keep you and the community safe. 

All our food share locations are currently operating! If there are any future interruptions in service they will be announced on this page.

Please read the relevant information for your local food share and our new guidelines for how you can attain food.

Major changes to all distributions that you need to be aware of:

1) Use common sense! Do not come to a food share or go out into the general public if you are sick or you believe that you might have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus. If you are sick seek medical assistance. If you are quarantined, contact a family member, friend, or neighbor and ask them to go to a distribution on your behalf. When they deliver food to you, ask that they leave it outside your door, so you don't infect them. If you have no one that can bring you food contact the CDC for assistance. 

2) All distributions have been converted to one single file line. All people coming for food at a Community Solidarity food share must keep a distance of at least 20 feet from the person in front and behind them (at all times). Markers on the ground will indicate where you should stand. When the marker in front of you opens up, move forward. 

3) To reduce crowd sizes, some distributions will serve based on age groups. Some distributions will only serve you at the listed time for your age group, DO NOT COME EARLIER! (See food share information below for the time you should arrive). The oldest age group of community members will be served first, followed by the next oldest and so on. The information for your local food share location (shown below) will tell you what time you should arrive based on your age group.

Be advised while we will take the word of most people for their age, we do reserve the right to ask for proof of age in extreme situations. So please, if you're a 50-year-old person, don't pretend to be 80!

4) All food at our Hempstead, Huntington, Farmingville, and BedStuy locations will be distributed in Pre-made boxes. Pre-made boxes of vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free vegetarian groceries will be available for drive-through pickup as well - and we encourage you to use this option instead of waiting on line. If you are a higher risk this service will be available at our Hempstead, Huntington & Farmingville locations. You can stay in your car, pull up, pop your truck and a volunteer will load you up with a pre-made box of groceries.

Please be aware that we are unable to make custom ordered grocery selections. The box of groceries you'll receive will contain a general selection of produce that we'll be distributing that day along with bread and grocery items. If you have dietary restrictions that aren't meet by vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free vegetarian, or diabetic boxes, you can contact us here and we'll do our best to ensure that you receive groceries based on your dietary needs. 

5) DO NOT TOUCH THE FOOD! Community members who come on our lines are not allowed to touch any food. Community members on line must inform volunteers what they want, and a volunteer will hand you the items you need (or place them in your trunk if you're using the drive-through). 

5) For the community’s safety, we will not serve anyone who appears to be sick. We all have a responsibility for the health of our community. Do not go out in public and do not come to a food share if you think there's a chance you can be sick. See guideline #1 if you need further assistance. 

6) We have been required by NYS to limit crowd size - for this reason, we will prioritize drive-through pickups. This is also why we are requiring all people to come online for food to only arrive at the designated times to minimize the number of people at our share at once. We will deny service to anyone that will not work with us on this endeavor.  

7) We ask that you don't bring any unnecessary people to our distributions. If you can leave your children with a neighbor or family member, please do so. If 4 people in your family come to the share, please consider sending just one, preferably a person in their 20's-40's, to minimize your family's risk. 

8) Please wash and clean all food you receive from Community Solidarity food shares. This is something you should be doing with the foods you get from a grocery store as well. Be proactive about your safety. 

Hempstead Food Share Every Sunday @ (see your listed arrival time)

If you have a vehicle we ask that you use our drive through service. If you don't have a vehicle, to reduce crowd size and assist at risk populations we ask that you only arrive at the listed times for your age group.

All food at this location will be given in pre-made boxes. We are unable to take requests for particular items. Pre-made box options are as follows - Vegan, Gluten-free, Diabetic and Vegetarian. 

If you're coming for drive through service - volunteers can also place pre-made boxes into your trunk or back seat so you don't need to leave your vehicle. 

Coming for Drive Through Pickup Only (must be in a vehicle)

• 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm All Ages Drive-Through Pickup

Coming via public transit or by foot (waiting in line) 

• 3:15 pm - All people 65+
• 4:00 pm  - All ages

Huntington Food Share Every Tuesday @ (see your listed arrival time)

If you have a vehicle we ask that you use our drive-through service. If you don't have a vehicle, to reduce crowd size and assist at-risk populations we ask that you only arrive at the listed times for your age group.

All food at this location will be given in pre-made boxes. We are unable to take requests for particular items. Pre-made box options are as follows - Vegan, Gluten-free, Diabetic and Vegetarian. 

If you're coming for drive-through service - volunteers can also place pre-made boxes into your trunk or back seat so you don't need to leave your vehicle. 

Coming for Drive Through Pickup Only (must be in a vehicle)

• 8:15 pm - 9:00pm All Ages Drive-Through Pickup

Coming via public transit or by foot (waiting in line) 

• 8:15 pm - All ages 

Farmingville Food Share Every Thursday @ (see your listed arrival time)

If you have a vehicle we ask that you use our drive through service. If you don't have a vehicle, to reduce crowd size and assist at risk populations we ask that you only arrive at the listed times for your age group.

All food at this location will be given in pre-made boxes. We are unable to take requests for particular items. Pre-made box options are as follows - Vegan, Gluten-free, Diabetic and Vegetarian. 

If you're coming for drive through service - volunteers can also place pre-made boxes into your trunk or back seat so you don't need to leave your vehicle. 

Coming for Drive Through Pickup Only (must be in a vehicle)

• 8:15 pm - 9:00 pm All Ages Drive-Through Pickup

Coming via public transit or by foot (waiting in line) 

• 8:45 pm - All ages

Wyandanch Food Share Every Saturday @ (see your listed arrival time)

To reduce crowd size and assist at-risk populations we ask that you only arrive at the listed times for your age group.

Be advised premade boxes of groceries are not available at this location. 

Drive-through service is not available at this location. 

• 11:50 am - All people 60+
• 12 noon - All ages

Bedstuy Food Share Every Saturday @ (see your listed arrival time)

To reduce crowd size and assist at-risk populations we ask that you only arrive at the listed times and not earlier.

All food at this location will be given in pre-made boxes. We are unable to take requests for particular items. Pre-made box options are as follows - Vegan, Gluten-free, Diabetic, and Vegetarian. 

Drive-through service is not available at this location. 

• 3:15 pm - All ages

Who should volunteer?

Community Solidarity highly recommends that all people who are 50 years old, or older, refrain from volunteering until the coronavirus crisis is over. We also recommend that anyone in an at risk population refrain from volunteering as well - that includeds people suffering from heart diseases, lung disease and cancer.

We love you all! And the truth is that the risk factors for those 50+ are far greater than those under 50. 

That said, we will not prevent anyone from volunteering based on your age. You just need to understand the risks your taking by being out in the public. 

How can volunteers protect themselves? 

We highly recommend that you wear a face mask while volunteering. If you don't have a face mask, you can use a bandana or scarf wrapped around your face. It will help protect you. 

We also recommend wearing protective gear on your eyes, glasses, sunglasses, or work glasses all help. 

All volunteers will be required to wear gloves (which we will be providing).  

We recommend that all volunteers shower immediately after attending a distribution. Remove your clothing and wash any items including jackets asap. If washing your clothing immediately after a distribution isn't possible. We recommend placing your clothing in a plastic garbage bag until it can be washed. 

What other changes will affect volunteers? 

We are no longer limiting the number of volunteers we accept. Over the past two weeks we've redesigned our food shares and have successfully set up in a way where we can all safely social distance. Since the start of the pandemic we have seen our numbers of volunteers drastically decrease - we desperately need the help of anyone who can safely participate.