A food pantry manager is helping fight hunger on Staten Island

Delila Nadal says she never stops working — from answering phone calls to unloading and unpacking groceries from trucks — because she says her work is essential to a hungry community.

Nadal is the director of the Staten Island Community Partnership, a program of The New York Foundling that provides social services to anyone struggling.

The pantry takes place weekly at various locations on Staten Island. A donation to the West Brighton Community Center will help feed around 80 families.

“We set our table for the pantry. We have frozen meat. We also have chicken to choose from,” she said. “It goes to a family that will be able to provide their family with some substance and a nutritious meal.”

Many of the recipients are of Hispanic descent. A mix of Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage, Nadal grew up in the New York City Housing Authority's Berry Houses.

During her childhood, she and her mother regularly visited local food pantries to get free food. She says she really understands growing up without enough to eat.

“When a box or bag was thrown at my mom, she wasn't really treated like a human being, and no one else was on the line, and so our pantry is different in the sense that we do personal shopping,” she said.

Her ties to the New York Foundling go back decades, when the nonprofit placed a needy foster child with her mother and supported a little girl in her family until the child's parents could take her back.

“We were able to build a foundation for a little baby who just needed some structure in his life, and it just made us feel complete as a family,” she said.

Now she's following in her mother's footsteps, supporting the organization and serving the Staten Island community.

“They come to us for help – they can't always afford to buy their basic needs and nutritional benefits and that's why we're here to help them,” she said.

The majority of donations come from the Food Bank for New York City and some donations come from ShopRite on Staten Island.

In addition, Nadal says she relies on $50,000 a year from private funds to support operations at the facility, which serves about 3,000 families annually.

“They are aware of the need and I am very grateful to them,” Martha Garcia, who benefits from the food distribution, said through an interpreter.

Nadal hopes to continue making a difference in her community and motivate the next generation to follow in her footsteps.

“Get out there and help as many people as you can to make the world a better place,” she said.