Officials: Fire forces food bank to close indefinitely

A fire early Tuesday at a Glen Cove food bank destroyed more than two dozen freezers and refrigerators and forced the facility to close indefinitely, officials said.

The NOSH food bank lost two months of food, said Christine Rice, board chair for NOSH and the North Shore Soup Kitchen, which is also located in Glen Cove but closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We will come back from this even stronger," Rice said, adding that NOSH, located inside the VFW Hall on Hill Street, had planned to serve 228 families Tuesday.

"We are all determined, from the board to the volunteers … to make sure we're back up and running as soon as possible," she said.

About 100 firefighters from Glen Cove and six other departments responded at 6:56 a.m. to a 911 call reporting the blaze, fire officials said.

The cause is not considered suspicious, said Kevin Lang, investigations division supervisor for the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s Office, adding that there’s extensive damage to the building and "moderate damage" inside. No one was hurt.

The basement, where VFW members meet, had water and smoke damage, fire officials said. NOSH is located on the first floor.

Information about whether the fire will affect meetings of the veterans' organization was not immediately available.

The food bank serves 500 families a week, Rice said.

NOSH and North Shore Soup Kitchen joined forces in 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and worked out of Glen Cove High School, Rice said. While the soup kitchen remains closed, likely until the fall, Rice said the food bank lost 24 refrigerators and freezers in the fire.

The food bank, which is staffed by volunteers, will be contacting families to alert them that deliveries are on hold until further notice, Rice said.

"We are doing the best we can to try and reach out to organizations to see if we can help these families get food that they need or at least be able to get up and running at a temporary location as quickly as we possibly can to be able to continue the operations," Rice said.

For information about how to help, or regarding food deliveries from NOSH, email the soup kitchen at info@northshoresoupkitchen.org.

With John Valenti