Parent volunteers at Manhattan’s PS 4 in Washington Heights prepare boxes and bags to be loaded with healthy produce.

Parent volunteers at Manhattan’s PS 4 await the arrival of produce on Nov. 21, 2025, to pack up for families in need.

PS 4 Community School Director Oliver Grullon says the number of families registered for the pantry has doubled.

Parent volunteer Bonnie Basabe says the pantry allows families to supplement their food stocks as prices continue to rise.

PS 4 teacher Iolani Grullon (no relation to Oliver) sees the positive impact: “You can’t teach a hungry tummy!”

Families line up in the cold for hours, some as early as 5:30 a.m., for the Nov. 17, 2025, food pantry at International School for Liberal Arts in the Bronx.

A delay in SNAP benefits and the promise of meat -- chickens and whole turkeys (held by ISLA student volunteers) -- fuel the early arrival of needy families.

Nubany Perez, community school director of ISLA, located on the Walton HS campus in Kingsbridge, meets the truck delivering chicken to distribute.

Student and parent volunteers pack bags of food filled with turkey or chicken and all the fixings.

Orange bags filled with food quickly fill the auditorium stage at ISLA before distribution.

Grateful families begin entering ISLA starting early afternoon to get their bags of food.  

Fresh produce – onions, celery, carrots, broccoli, is a real draw for families at PS 14 in Corona, Queens, which is centered in a food desert.

PS 14 teacher Angelica Ortega, who helped launch the pantry during the pandemic, checks in families waiting on line.

A gaily painted Food Pantry awaits parent volunteers who pack up bags of food for those in need.

Parent volunteers at PS 14 arrive about 9 a.m. to pack up dry and canned goods for distribution.

Pictures of fruit and vegetables line the walls of PS 14’s food pantry.

A long line of families wait in the chill in PS 14’s schoolyard after dismissal to get bags of food.