To assist Island Harvest in their mission of helping those in need, Senator John Flanagan (2nd Senate District) and members of his staff recently participated in the organization’s Summer Food Blitz. Joining with dozens of other volunteers at Nassau Community College on Monday, August 4th, Senator Flanagan helped load and organize donations from trucks to be distributed to food pantries across Long Island.
Island Harvest serves as a bridge between over 600 local restaurants, caterers, farms, and other food-related businesses and a network of close to 500 soup kitchens, food pantries, and other places to make sure that those who need food have access to it.
At the recent food blitz, over 300,000 pounds of food and supplies on a convoy of trucks was unloaded and distributed by dozens of staff and volunteers who worked from early morning through the afternoon. The donated materials were then picked up by representatives from a variety of charities and organizations to help thousands of Long Islanders.
The food blitz doubled the amount of food and supplies that Island Harvest was able to deliver to local communities throughout the region. This helped Island Harvest answer the call for help that has been growing over the past few months.
"We are grateful to Senator Flanagan for his continued and steadfast support of Island Harvest in helping fight hunger on Long Island," said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and chief executive of Island Harvest. "In addition to securing much needed funding, it is especially gratifying that Senator Flanagan took time out of his busy schedule to spend several hours with us unloading trucks at our recent food blitz." "The efforts of Island Harvest are a great help to many in our community and I applaud everyone who took the time to help at the food blitz. Many of the staff and volunteers at the agency spent countless hours organizing this event and hopefully they know how much their efforts mean to all of us," stated Senator Flanagan. "The fight against hunger is a winnable one if we all work together and today should serve as a reminder of how much can be accomplished in one morning."According to the organization’s web site, Island Harvest has grown to become the third largest food rescue organization in the United States. They are assisted by over 1,000 active and trained volunteers and a staff of 18 and deliver seven million pounds of food per year, supplementing about 5.4 million meals.
In addition to constantly seeking volunteers, the organization accepts private donations as well as corporate and legislative grants to sustain its food rescue programs. For more information on Island Harvest or how you can help those in your community, please visit click here.
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