Food Pantries Ask for More Donations to Meet Growing Demand

In a land of plenty, the need for even basic staples is growing. Some food pantries around Long Island are asking – even pleading – for more donations, citing the increased demand as more middle-class residents seek their help. As the economy continues to wobble, as more people run out of ways to stretch a paycheck, it’s no longer just the permanently poor who need help, the pantries say.

Mineola-based , Long Island’s largest hunger relief organization, is reporting a significant increase in the demand for food among the 570 soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and other emergency feeding programs it serves across Long Island, including ten such programs in and around Mineola.

“The face of hunger on Long Island has changed,” Island Harvest President Randi Shubin Dresner said in a statement. “We’re seeing some individuals and families who once contributed food or funds to Island Harvest now seeking our help.”

Over 70,000 individuals seek food assistance in Nassau and Suffolk Counties each week through the feeding programs according to the nonprofit’s figures. In the Mineola area, Island Harvest supplies food to six food pantries, one soup kitchen and several senior citizen and childcare programs.

Among the groups increasingly accessing local pantries are senior citizens and veterans returning from active duty who are finding it hard to find jobs.

To help veterans Island Harvest created Operation: HOPE in November, using a refrigerated van to deliver supplemental food and personal care items directly to the homes of veterans and their families needing assistance. Items needed for Operation: HOPE are canned goods, cereal, rice, pasta, shelf-stable juices and other non-perishables and personal care items such as deodorants, shampoo, soap and toothpaste.

The group relies heavily on donations from companies and individuals with approximately 97 cents of every dollar donated going to help provide food to people in need.

Residents wishing to help can do so by organizing a food drive or donating funds or food. Non-perishable food items and supermarket gift cards can be dropped off at any , or at Island Harvest’s main office in Mineola.