Wyandanch food pantry at a church faces uncertain future amid lease dispute with landlord

Bread of Life World Outreach Center has served the Wyandanch community since 2009. We used to feed maybe 50 people maybe in a week. It changed to hundreds of families in a day. Tanya Bowman leads the church's food pantry, which she says reaches thousands in their town monthly. But a tug-of-war between the landlord and the church over the lease has changed the future of that pantry. Well, as of right now, we are behind. The church stopped paying rent in August. Bishop Randy Brown and his wife, Pastor Gail Brown, say it's because the landlord sold the property and did not give the church enough time to come up with the funds to purchase it. I just made a decision. I think it's for the betterment of the church. He doesn't want us in the building. We need to put ourselves in a position where we can get ready to relocate, go somewhere, do something, and at least have ourselves situated. In a statement to News 12, the landlord says, quote, I have supported the church and its important work in the community by maintaining rent well below market rates and working with them through ongoing challenges with timely rental payments. The church was offered the opportunity to purchase it. No formal offer was submitted, and I subsequently accepted an offer from another buyer. Bowman says one thing is for certain. Thousands will be impacted if the church has to close its doors or even move to a new location it will devastate this area they're here every week and the numbers are growing in Wyandanch, Suffolk County, Daniela Rodriguez, News 12.