It is Friday afternoon, many Staten Islanders are heading to New York City via the Staten Island Ferry for a fun Friday night out. At the Richmond Terrace CHASI pantry, volunteers and staff are busy helping clients shop for their weekly pantry. Service at Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI) is superb – the staff is swift to tend to clients’ requests the best way possible. While in the waiting area, clients are offered different services like HIV screenings, health check-ups, immigration services, and/or they are invited to participate in a Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables nutrition workshop.
Nutrition Education is a priority for George Barreto, the site director. “Some clients don’t know how to use the healthy foods we offer in the pantry, like brown rice, dry beans, and vegetables. I’d like to help them learn how to prepare these foods”. For this, George enrolled the pantry in 
the Healthy Pantry Initiative (HPI), a Food Bank for NYC pilot program that aims to increase the distribution and accessibility of healthy food items at pantries. The staff embraced the initiative right away. They were open to move things around to give brown rice and whole wheat pasta a spot on the shelves, where it would be easier for clients to see and reach them.
HPI included food demos, which clients really enjoyed. “I love this rice; I will make it at home tonight!” one of the clients said. “I did not know that brown rice was easy to make.” Clients kept asking for seconds, but one young man also mentioned that he was really hungry that he had not had food in days. He was really thankful for the food and he added “I am happy I came today…I had good food it was healthy too!”
Kudos to George and his crew for running a fine operation and for the renovation of the pantry and waiting area – it looks amazing!