{"id":18687,"date":"2025-10-27T18:04:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/18687\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T18:04:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:04:06","slug":"saint-lukes-food-pantry-in-the-bronx-expands-to-feed-families-with-dignity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/18687\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Luke\u2019s Food Pantry in the Bronx Expands to Feed Families with Dignity"},"content":{"rendered":"

A newly renovated community hall at Saint Luke\u2019s Catholic Church<\/a> in the South Bronx is giving new life to the parish\u2019s mission of service. Once a modest food pantry serving the local neighborhood, Saint Luke\u2019s now operates one of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York<\/a>\u2019s most active pop-up pantry sites, distributing fresh food to hundreds of families each week.<\/p>\n

The renovation and expansion of the parish\u2019s community hall were made possible through a grant from Gerstner Philanthropies<\/a>. The funds supported major improvements to accessibility and capacity, allowing the parish to better serve a community deeply affected by food insecurity.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything happening here is God\u2019s work for His people,\u201d said Father Jorge Cleto, pastor of Saint Luke\u2019s. \u201cWe are in the South Bronx, an area in great need, and this space is now open to everyone. People can come with a wheelchair or a walker. Everybody is included. Everybody is part of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upgraded facilities include new ramps, wider doorways, accessible restrooms, and expanded cold storage. With seven new commercial freezers and refrigerators, the food pantry has tripled its storage capacity and now offers fresh produce, meats, and dairy alongside nonperishable items.<\/p>\n

Beyond food distribution, the renovation has created a flexible space for a variety of community programs. Saint Luke\u2019s now hosts English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for migrants, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) job training, and nutrition workshops.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides the food pantry, we are offering ESL programs and OSHA classes through Catholic Charities,\u201d Father Cleto said. \u201cWe also have a nutrition program for those who need special diets. We help them get the food they need and teach them how to prepare it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each week, between 350 and 450 parishioners and neighbors pass through the hall for food assistance and other outreach services. On special pop-up distribution days organized with Catholic Charities, that number grows even higher.<\/p>\n

The need, Father Cleto noted, has only increased in recent years as families face higher costs of living and reductions in federal benefits. \u201cThere is a lot happening here, and a lot we want to happen,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are open to other organizations who want to work with us to serve the people of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

What began as a renovation project has become a renewed mission: to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, and accompany those in need, with dignity, compassion, and faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A newly renovated community hall at Saint Luke\u2019s Catholic Church in the South Bronx is giving new life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,12799,11216,12800,12801,12802,9,24,63,12803,12804,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-18687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-food-pantry","tag-catholic-charities-new-york","tag-catholic-church-community-service","tag-feed-the-hungry","tag-food-insecurity-in-the-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-parish-outreach-bronx","tag-saint-lukes-food-pantry-bronx","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}