With President Donald Trump extending his social distancing guidelines through April 30, the overall need of people helping others will only continue to grow. A man on Long Island is doing his part.

Mike Rosenberger launched West Babylon Cares on Facebook, a food pantry harnessing the power of social media to build the initiative's presence and mission.

He called on volunteers to help collect food to get things rolling.

"The page serves two purposes," he says. "It helps us collect the food we need, but it also allows us to learn who needs help."

 

He and other volunteers in West Babylon are building free meal kits to anyone on Long Island who is homebound or in a pinch due to the coronavirus' impact on the economy.

"Most people want to remain anonymous so I do all the deliveries to maintain their privacy," he said. "In just a week, we have been able to feed families and the elderly in Babylon, West Babylon, North Babylon, Deer Park and Wyandanch."

Rosenberger makes as many as 20 deliveries in a day.

The page gained more than 600 followers in less than five days. Several businesses stepped in to act as drop-off sites. Rosenberger says this is just the beginning.

 

"There will be many more people in need, and we need all the help we can get with donations," he said. “We also need to get the word out so people know we are here to help. We currently have three drop off locations, but we are looking for other businesses that are open to act as locations as well."

If you would like to donate, the drop-offs are in the following locations: