QUEENS — Elmhurst Dairy, which closed its Jamaica facility last weekend after nearly 100 years in business, donated the company's last 4,000 gallons of whole milk to the Bowery Mission Tuesday morning, the company said.
The milk will help feed hundreds of homeless men and women, according to the Bowery Mission which serves around 1,300 meals a day at seven sites in New York and New Jersey.
James Winans, the chief development officer at the nonprofit, said with temperatures dropping, the charity, which relies almost entirely on donations, is now seeing even more people coming through its doors.
"November is our busiest month of the year,” he said. “So this is coming at exactly the right time.”
(DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska)
Jay Valentine, vice president and general manager of Elmhurst Dairy, said that the Schwartz family, who owns the plant, "wanted to help out nonprofit organizations that serve people in need.”
“Why not do the right thing?" he asked.
Elmhurst Dairy, which was established in 1919, closed its milk processing plant in Jamaica on Saturday, resulting in the loss of 273 jobs, Valentine said.
The company said that the main reason for the closure was a drop in demand.
It was the last of about 20 milk processing plants in the New York City and Long Island area, which all closed within the past 25 years, the company said.
