(Long Island, NY) Long Island Cares, Inc. The Harry Chapin Food Bank will mark the first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy by distributing an 18 page booklet which describes the role of the regional food bank in responding to the impact of Hurricane Sandy on Long Island. They now begin the second phase of their Emergency Response and Recovery Services Program which will entail a personal follow-up with the nearly 14,000 families they assisted in the last 12 months.
The second phase of their recovery plan will begin with aggressive outreach to families that have already benefitted from the organization’s services. Long Island Cares will then identify any additional families that will need extra support and supplies during the upcoming winter months. Long Island Cares forecasts hiring additional staff to coordinate focus groups with survivor families in an effort to identify and address current needs for food support, supplies and small grants. Most of the work will be coordinated at Long Island Cares’ storefront locations in Freeport and Lindenhurst, as well as through their mobile outreach units.
The second phase of recovery assistance is being supported with approximately $250,000 in private and corporate donations to Long Island Cares designated for Hurricane Sandy recovery work and will begin in early October.
According to Paule Pachter, Executive Director of Long Island Cares, Inc., “Many families have been able to return back to their homes to continue to rebuild their residences and their lives. However, because of the tremendous difficulties families have experienced in trying to receive insurance reimbursement and other financial assistance, we foresee that there will still be a need for tangible goods to enable them to move forward successfully in their recovery.”
For more information about the Lindenhurst Sandy Recovery program contact Lisa M. Owens, Coordinator of Emergency Response and Recovery Services at: lowens@licares.org
About Long Island Cares, Inc.
Long Island Cares, Inc. – The Harry Chapin Food Bank is Long Island’s first food bank: serving the hungry on Long Island since, 1980. Long Island Cares brings together all available resources for the benefit of the hungry on Long Island and provides emergency food where and when it is needed, and sponsors a wide variety of innovate direct service programs that help families achieve self-sufficiency. The organization was founded by the late singer, Grammy Award winning songwriter and social activist Harry Chapin in response to the growing issue of hunger on Long Island. It is continued today by his wife and partner Sandy Chapin, a dedicated Board of Directors and talented staff working out of their 35,000 square foot facility in Hauppauge and their storefront hunger assistance centers in Freeport and Lindenhurst. Long Island Cares is a member agency of the Food Bank Association of New York State and Feeding America. Long Island Cares, Inc. is recognized by the NYS Department of Health and the USDA as the regional food bank for Long Island.
Long Island Cares, Inc.
The Harry Chapin Food Bank
10 Davids Drive-Harry Chapin Way
Hauppauge, New York 11788
(631) 582-3663
“http://www.licares.org”
