It’s our hope that by the time this newspaper reaches your hands that your family has enjoyed a truly memorable Thanksgiving. Although Nassau County and its residents have faced some significant challenges in the past year, we hope that your family found countless reasons to be thankful as they gathered around the Thanksgiving table.
As we think of reasons to give thanks, we are reminded of the volunteers who spent the holiday making certain that the poorest people on Long Island had a warm place to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. Add to that the food pantries that made certain that families who still have a home had a turkey to put in the oven and all the trimmings on the table.
In some cases these volunteers delayed or even gave up the opportunity to enjoy Thanksgiving in the comfort of their homes surrounded by their own loved ones.
They are heroes. All of them.
One of the organizations caring for the hungry on Long Island is the Interfaith Nutrition Network that began in 1983 as a single soup run by volunteers in a Hempstead church. This soup kitchen inspired others and today the INN has become an interfaith network of 19 soup kitchens. Each day the dedicated volunteers brought together under this umbrella feed more than 75,000 needy people.
And then there are the food pantries. This year in Bethpage the island’s third annual “Turkey and Trimmings” drive was held. Long Islanders were encouraged to donate turkeys and holiday dry goods that were distributed to 25,000 struggling families through Long Island Harvest, the island’s largest hunger relief organization. Hats off to the Bethpage Federal Credit Union and other corporate sponsors who make this annual event a success.
The pantries invite families to donate food items like boxed mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, canned cranberry sauce, and canned vegetables. In some cases the soup kitchens make it possible for donors to purchase a meal for a hungry person or family.
Unfortunately the pantries say their supplies are dwindling. As the number of needy families continues to grow, some say their shelves are sometimes bare. They need greater community support if they are going to ensure that no family goes hungry this winter.
In this short space it is not possible to list all of the food pantries and soup kitchens on Long Island or to properly thank all of the volunteers that provide such an important service not just on Thanksgiving but all year long.
This year in particular it struck us that while some islanders where heading out to shop at stores that opened for the first time at midnight on Black Friday, the volunteers were probably climbing into bed exhausted by a day selfless service.
A Blank Slate Media Editorial
