East Northport teens collect thousands of items for food pantry

Two East Northport teens have been helping feed local families and encouraging donors and recipients to make nutritious choices.

Riley Perinchief and Emma Rothleder, both seniors at Elwood-John H. Glenn High School, have spearheaded separate food drives that resulted in thousands of items donated to the pantry at Elwood Middle School. Perinchief also created a 30-page cookbook featuring healthy recipes that use ingredients commonly available at the pantry, while Rothleder constructed collection bins on wheels stationed in all four schools within the Elwood school district.

The pair, who are Girl Scouts, pursued the projects as part of their Gold Award, the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of America. Perinchief is a member of Troop 192, while Rothleder is a member of Troop 1619.

“I knew I wanted to do something with the food pantry because it’s pretty small, and we don’t have a lot of recognition for it in the town,” said Perinchief, 17. “I feel so grateful that I can go to the store and just get whatever I need, but not everybody has that.”

To create the cookbook, Perinchief said she “scoured the internet” to find ideas for meals ranging from açai bowls to vegetable soup and included about 30 recipes along with details on nutrition facts, preparation time and serving sizes. She also made a Spanish-language version of the spiralbound book, which is available at the pantry, and posted the contents online for easier access at rileyspantrytotable.com.

Rothleder, meanwhile, said she educated community members on nutritious foods to donate by creating a slideshow and “infomercial” promoted through the district’s social media accounts. She also built the bins with help from a local contractor and donated materials from Kleet Lumber in Huntington and local Home Depot stores.

“Helping the community has always been so important to me, and food insecurity has always been a very pressing issue to me,” said Rothleder, 17.

The two teens have also stationed themselves outside of a local Stop & Shop, where they encouraged customers to donate food as they exited and received hundreds of dollars in donations for the pantry, they said.

Elwood math teacher Christina Kerensky-DeSimone, who runs the pantry with social worker Sherine DeJesus, praised the teens.

“That kind of kindness you typically don’t see in high school students, and the fact that they have that in them and are concerned about their community, it just makes you really proud,” said Kerensky-DeSimone. 

Nominate a Long Islander who goes above and beyond or serves as an inspiration to their community. Send details and photograph to Michael Ebert, michael.ebert@newsday.com (photos should be high-resolution). Photos may be used in other publications affiliated with Newsday. 

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.