Volunteer's Corner: Feeding the Hungry of Long Island

Volunteering is the ultimate act of kindness. Giving one's time and energy to help out others is so much more rewarding than just donating money to a worthy organization. Volunteer opportunities abound on Long Island and everywhere for people who'd like to lend a hand to someone less fortunate than themselves. Volunteering can take many forms, whether it's utilizing a special skill or just lending an ear to someone who could use one.

The Long Island Volunteer Center is part of the 1-800Volunteer.org network, an organization dedicated to connecting people who want to volunteer with the organizations that need help. Both organizations are wonderful resources for anyone looking to give back to society and volunteer their services, whatever they may be.

There are many people on Long Island and throughout the nation that suffer from not having enough food to eat. Hunger is a terrible problem and there are plenty of great organizations working to feed the hungry throughout Long Island and beyond. In this edition of Volunteer's Corner, we take a look at food pantries that are dedicated to feeding the hungry and that need your help. These non-profit organizations are always on the lookout for people who care and want to volunteer their time to contribute to their efforts.

Food pantries collect and distribute food items to the needy everywhere, and they rely on the service of volunteers to help them feed the hungry. Whether it's loading or unloading trucks of food items or serving food to the poor, volunteering at a food pantry can really help make a difference. Here's a listing of some of the many food pantries throughout Long Island:

Christ Lutheran Church

East Moriches, NY, and

New Hyde Park, NY

(see LI Volunteer Center Website below)

Long Island Cares, The Harry Chapin Food Bank

10 Davids Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 631-582-FOOD, and

9 W. Sunrise Hwy., Freeport, NY 11520 - 516-442-5221

http://www.licares.org/

Island Harvest

199 Second St., Mineola 11501 516-294-8528

http://www.islandharvest.org/index.aspx?skipintro=true

Smithtown Emergency Food Pantry

90 Edgewater Ave., Smithtown, NY 11787 631-265-7676

St. Anne's Parish Outreach

88 2^nd Ave., Brentwood, NY 11717 631-273-0070

Greater Sayville Food Pantry

47 Gillette Ave., Sayville, NY 11782 631-244-8375

Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen

429 Route 25A, Setauket- East Setauket, NY 11733 631 941-2731

Grace Lutheran Church

311 Uniondale Ave., Uniondale, NY 11553 516-489-2182

http://www.graceuniondale.org/

East Hampton Food Pantry

219 Accabonac Rd., East Hampton, NY 11937 631-324-2300

Of course, these are but a few of the many organizations throughout Long Island that are on the front lines in the fight against hunger. If you'd like to help out by volunteering or even making donations of food give one of them a call and take some time to help those less fortunate than yourself. If none of these are within your reach, there are many other places you can search for organizations working to feed the hunger, starting with 1-800-Volunteer.org. Most places of worship maintain some sort of food aid to the needy as well and so they'd make another great alternative.

Sources:

Long Island Volunteer Center

http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/long-island-volunteer-center/vcindex.do

1-800-Volunteer.org (National)

http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/OpenIndexAction.do

For past editions of Volunteer's Corner, check out:

A Call to Volunteer

Non-Profit Organizations in Suffolk County, New York

Volunteer's Corner: Organizations that Help Fight Homelessness

Volunteer's Corner: Animal Welfare and Protection Organizations

Volunteer's Corner: Working to Preserve and Protect the Environment of Long Island and Beyond