Meet the team
Recipient Outreach Coordinator
Erika Garcia
Erika Garcia first connected with the Springs Food Pantry during the pandemic, when her family, like many others, faced sudden hardship. As a daughter of a single mother raising three children, she remembers how meaningful the Pantry’s support was during those difficult times. Out of gratitude, Erika began volunteering, wanting to give back to the same community that once lifted her up.
Her journey has since come full circle. Today, as a Board Member, Erika represents many of the Pantry’s families, over 85% of whom are Latino immigrants, offering a vital perspective shaped by lived experience, empathy, and hope.
A creative at heart, Erika is the founder of Bloom Country, a local floral and garden studio that celebrates beauty, community, and connection. She has designed the Pantry’s Summer soirée events for the past three years, along with other fundraising projects for local nonprofits across the East End. Before that, she spent nearly a decade volunteering with Ruta 27, teaching English to fellow immigrants in East Hampton.
For Erika, the Springs Food Pantry means more than food, it means a second chance, a helping hand, and light at the end of the tunnel. “It reminds me that kindness can change a life,” she says. “I’m honored to now stand on the giving side of the same table that once gave to me.”