Hauppauge, NY - December 23rd, 2015 - Veterans of the U.S. armed services often face exceptional challenges readjusting to civilian life, among which include joblessness and not having enough to eat. Island Harvest Food Bank recently received a $50,000 grant from Walmart to help fund its Operation: HOPE mobile food pantry that provides food and other assistance to veterans and families of active duty military personnel in need.
The Operation: HOPE mobile food pantry, which was launched in 2011, is a specially-designed refrigerated van that presently serves veterans and military families in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. It is staffed by volunteers, themselves veterans, and provides much-needed food, household supplies and personal care products directly to Long Island veterans and military families. In addition, the Operation: HOPE program provides vital information and referrals to link veterans and military families with benefits and services that can help them.
“Veterans and families of active duty personnel have made numerous sacrifices in serving our nation, yet often face a number of hardships; and we not only owe them a debt of gratitude, but our help, too,” said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO, Island Harvest. “Thanks to the generosity of Walmart, consistent with their longstanding commitment to helping our nation’s veterans, we are able to provide food and other assistance though our Operation: HOPE initiative.”
About Hunger on Long Island
Hunger is a state in which people do not get enough food to provide the nutrients for active and healthy lives. It can result from the recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food. More than 316,000 Long Islanders face the risk of hunger every day, according to Island Harvest Food Bank and Feeding America, a national hunger-relief organization. These are often hard-working adults, children, seniors and veterans who cannot always make ends meet and are often forced to go without food. Approximately 70,000 individuals seek food assistance in Nassau and Suffolk counties each week through soup kitchens, food pantries and other feeding programs served by Island Harvest.
About Island Harvest Food Bank
Island Harvest Food Bank is a leading hunger-relief organization that provides food and other resources to people in need. Always treating those it helps with dignity and respect, its goal is to end hunger and reduce poverty on Long Island through efficient food collection and distribution; enhanced hunger-awareness and nutrition-education programs; job training; and direct services targeted at children, senior citizens, veterans and others at risk.
Approximately 94 cents of every dollar donated to Island Harvest goes to programs that support more than 316,000 Long Islanders. Island Harvest is a lead agency in the region’s emergency-response preparedness for food and product distribution, and is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.