Food pantry helps needy celebrate Passover

The racks at the Kol Ditzrich kosher food pantry in Woodmere were full last week as it handled requests from needy area residents preparing for their Passover seders.

This year's bounty was due in large part to the efforts of three local yeshiva students who raffled off an iPad and other items, and used the proceeds to buy 147 boxes of kosher food and other goods.

"The community needed support for food for Passover and we all got together and we organized a fundraiser . . . and we raised over $4,000," Ilan Portnoy, 18, of Lawrence, said Friday.

"With that money, we bought different items that the pantry needed. . . . We got our school together and as an activity we put the whole thing together and we brought them to the pantry," he said. Each box held tuna, matzo, oil, cereal, salad dressing, paper towels and more.

Pantry coordinator Ellen Warshall said Passover, which begins at sundown Monday, poses special problems for needy Jews.

The students packed boxes for distribution to recipients, but the pantry also allows people to select food from the racks.

Passover, celebrated in early spring, marks the emancipation of Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. During the holy days, observant Jews refrain from eating leavened breads and instead eat matzo and other unleavened products to commemorate the haste with which the Israelites fled Egypt, without even the time for bread to rise.

Portnoy could not say exactly when and how he and his friends at the DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys were struck with the idea. Student Eliot Samimi, 17, of Great Neck said, "It just came to us. Sort of, Why not do something?"

The pantry was established seven years ago at the JCC of the Greater Five Towns in Cedarhurst. The pantry moved to Woodmere two years ago when the economy worsened.

"With the changes in the economy, the needs of our community grew," Rina Shkolnik, executive director of the JCC, said. "Today, we serve over 200 families [a month], over 1,000 people from all over the community. The need is tremendous.

"These young men learned a valuable lesson in what it means to give back to their community and we are grateful for their kindness and hard work," Shkolnik said.

Portnoy said he hopes this year's effort becomes permanent. "The important thing is that we continue to work [and] the school continues to work with the pantry to provide for the needs of the community."