Our Purpose

Astoria Food Pantry aims to bring people together to provide material support and to build trust based on common interest. We believe in solidarity not charity. We recognize that our safety, health and dignity are bound up in each other.

As a group founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our goal is to leave this disaster better prepared than when we entered it. 
 
Our community center at 25-82 Steinway Street is the hub of our work. In that space, we host multiple projects providing direct aid to our neighbors - providing free groceries, meals, clothing, books, COVID tests, PPE, and more. We share our space with other local projects that engage in direct aid, activism, and community services.

We share our space with activists, and we do not shy away from talking about the things that need to change. We believe that we should divest from policing and invest in care, immigrants should be welcome in our city and country, all people should receive a living wage, housing and food are human rights, immediate change is needed to prevent extreme climate change, and our differences should be celebrated, not feared.
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We aim to make our community a safe space for people of all sexualities, genders, religions, races, ethnicities, ages, disabilities, mental illnesses, and neurodivergence.