A fire at Trinity Lutheran Church in Wyandanch on Sunday afternoon caused damage to the building and its longtime soup kitchen ministry, though no one was injured, according to church leaders and fire officials.
After Sunday morning services had ended, church leaders received a call that the church was on fire.
“I first heard about it, I was kind of almost teary because I'm like, 'oh my God, this church that I hold so dear since 1977 could just be'...When you hear fire. Your mind goes to the worse scenario,” said Penelope Owens, the church council president.
Photos from inside the building show damage caused by the fire. Church leaders said the fire started near an outside door in the basement before it spread through the kitchen and upstairs to the church offices.
“The damage is minimal, but there’s smoke damage, there’s water damage, they had to rip out doors and windows. So we got to get all that replaced,” said Vito Colletti, president of the Mercy Soup Kitchen.
Trinity Lutheran Church has been part of the Wyandanch community for nearly 90 years. One of its key ministries is the Mercy Soup Kitchen, which has fed people for 45 years.
Soup kitchen organizers said the kitchen equipment and most of the food survived the fire. However, the program serves about 150 meals each day and organizers are hoping to resume operations as quickly as possible.
“This is devastating. Very difficult for me. It's a it's a hard road ahead. And, like they say, keeping the doors open is important. Too many people depend on us,” Colletti said.
Colletti added he hopes most of the cleanup can be completed on Monday so that the soup kitchen can reopen and begin serving meals again Tuesday or Wednesday.
“We really need the donations from the community to help us rebuild what has been damaged,” Owens said.
Police said the fire appears to have been accidental and fire officials said no one was hurt.
