Parishioners upset over impending closure of beloved food pantry at Brooklyn's Saint Augustine Church
NEW YORK -- A church community in Brooklyn is devastated following news that its food bank is being shut down by the church's pastor.
The church says certain protocols were not being followed and that it had no choice but to cease operations.
CBS New York spoke to both officials and parishioners on Thursday.
The Helping Hands Food Pantry is a ministry that has operated out of the Saint Augustine Church in Park Slope since the 1990s.
Volunteers, who say they aim to put their faith into practice through community service, are upset with Father Frank Tamino's decision to close the pantry this Saturday.
"Very disappointing this is happening. We love coming here," Helping Hands' Barbara Flynn said.
"I don't know if the people in the neighborhood know the food pantry is closing. That's a travesty during Lent, mind you, Lent!" added the pantry's James Palmaro.
The church says the pantry, which serves around 400 residents a month, failed to comply with certain mandates to help keep children and adults safe.
"Father Tamino, the pastor, he did not want this to shut down. It's an important ministry," said John Quaglione, deputy press secretary for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. "We can't take the risk as a church, as a parish, to allow people in need to come and be serviced by people we don't know their full story, background checks, proper training."
Volunteers say over the last few weeks everyone had complied with the requirements but were told by the church too little, too late.
"We said that everybody had to do exactly what Father Tamino wanted to do if we were going to stay here because the writing was kind of on the wall, and we all did it exactly what he wanted to do, so for the four weeks prior to us receiving notice that he was closing," said Helping Hands' Tom Wargo.
Parishioners told CBS New York they weren't surprised to find out the pantry at Monica Hall would be closed, as other church ministries have been shut down recently as well.
Over the past few years, parishioners say the church put an end to a Christmas party for the children of incarcerated parents -- a Haitian support group, a monthly dinner for people with AIDS, and raised the rent tenfold on a biweekly Alcohol Anonymous meeting.
"Father Frank arrives on his chariot and says the rent is now $800 a month. We couldn't afford it, so we had to leave," Helping Hands' Mychal McNicholas said.
In statement, the church said, "Unfortunately, there have been some programs which have failed to comply with parish, legal and diocesan requirements. As such, the safety of all parishioners and the financial integrity of the parish cannot be compromised."
"So, we were the last to go," Flynn said.
