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SPRING FORWARD at 2 a.m. on Sunday. Remember to change your smoke detector batteries.
HERALD Infections as of March 7
5,208
CoMMuNIty uPDAtE
Infections as of Feb. 26 5,041
$1.00
PBA serves food to seniors
Students mark 100 days
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MARCH 11 - 17, 2021
Vol. 86 No. 11
Honoring Moxey Rigby Village names housing complex for historic Freeport judge about 77 years now and got to see the old Moxey Rigby building go up,” Cattano said. “It served its The Village of Freeport purpose, but we needed to either unveiled the new Moxey Rigby repair it or replace it . . . and now affordable housing complex, ded- we have a new, state-of-the-art icated to the late Judge Moxey complex for our residents.” Rigby and his family, on March 3. The new building, which has The new builda New England shining, just 300 feet gle-style design, sits away from the old on 2.44 acres, and one on Buffalo Avehas a footprint of nue, has 101 apart34,634 square feet. ment units and is Apartments range Nassau County’s from one to four bedlargest-ever affordrooms, and are able housing develabout 25 percent opment. larger than the units Joe Cattano, in the old complex. chair man of the Rent is based on a Freeport Housing tenant’s income. Authority, said the The $65 million project took two project features a years to complete, JoHN HRVAtIN new playground, 100 and hundreds of resparking spots, a basFHA director idents moved in by ketball court, two the end of 2019. The trash rooms on each ceremony in honor of Rigby, the floor, laundry rooms, community village’s first African-American rooms, individually controlled court judge, had been postponed heating and air conditioning in because of the coronavirus pan- each unit, key fob entry, security demic. systems, elevators and an inter“It’s an honor that his name is com system. being kept alive,” said John WilJohn Hrvatin, the director of liams, one of Rigby’s cousins. the FHA, who was credited with “Our family is indebted to Free- overseeing successful compleport, and we are humbled.” “I’ve been in Freeport for Continued on page 7
By RoNNy REyES rreyes@liherald.com
I
Courtesy Jake Gold Productions
VoluNtEER MARIlyN WEISS sliced deli meat on Monday to be assembled into sandwiches for guests who visit the Soup to Nuts Soup Kitchen housed in Christ Lutheran Church in Freeport.
Pantry adjusts to pandemic Soup to Nuts continues feeding families By BRIDgEt DoWNES bdownes@liherald.com
“What does a soup kitchen do in the middle of a pandemic when gathering for a meal is not safe or permitted?” asked Steve Greenfield, vice president of the Baldwin Civic Association. He volunteers with the Soup to Nuts Soup Kitchen housed in Christ Lutheran Church in Freeport. In reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic, volunteers have
adjusted the pantry’s operations over the past year. The facility closed last April and reopened in June. Soup to Nuts used to operate five days a week, but is now open only three days a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Bagged, to-gostyle lunches are handed out by volunteers outside the church from noon to 1 p.m., and on Wednesdays, cooks prepare hot meals. Bagged lunches include sandwiches, pizza slices, fruit,
doughnuts and any other food items that are donated that week. Additionally, volunteers set up tables outside in an area resembling a supermarket to allow guests to take grocery items that they may need. Island Harvest provides boxes of food in addition to donations from local shops, including Bagel Boss in Baldwin, Trader Joe’s in Merrick, Fehn’s Cake and Cookie Shop Continued on page 23
t was a tremendous undertaking, but I know this is going to be a model for the community.