(Long Island, NY) Eighty-two Long Island McDonald’s restaurants partnered with the Girl Scouts of Nassau County and the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County to collect 4,500 pounds of non-perishable food and baby product donations during the 6th Annual Long Island McDonald’s Holiday Food Drive 2015. The Girl Scout’s decoratedthe food drive collection boxes with festive designs and heartwarming holiday messages, and placed them on display at all the Long Island McDonald’s locations from November 2nd through December 23rd. The food drive benefited Long Island Cares, Inc., The Harry Chapin Regional Food Bank with more than two tons of food, a total of 3,700 meals, that was distributed to more than 316,000 Long Islanders, including 70,000 children, who struggle with food insecurity and hunger on a daily basis. Long Island Cares, Inc. delivers more than 7 million pounds of food, annually, to its network of 577 Nassau and Suffolk County community-based member agencies consisting of local pantries, soup kitchens and the organization’s three satellite service centers in Freeport, Lindenhurst and Huntington Station.
“This is the first year that Long Island McDonald’s restaurants have partnered with Long Island Cares and the results were greater than imagined, making our partnership one of the most successful of the McDonald’s food drives to date,” said Elana Sissons, Food Drive Manager for Long Island Cares, Inc. Long Island Cares works closely with Girl Scouts who frequently visit the food bank’s warehouse and distribution center in Hauppauge to volunteer with sorting food donations and special projects including, their ability to earn The Harry Chapin Hunger Activist Patch through Suffolk County.
“The Long Island McDonald’s Owner/Operators are proud to support a respected organization such as Long Island Cares. We were happy to work together with them on their mission to provide meals for those in need. And having the Girl Scouts involved in decorating the collection boxes gave the program a special feel. We hope that we were able to make a difference for Long Islanders in need with the food collected in our restaurants.” says Josh Kaufman, McDonald’s Owner Operator and McDonald’s NY Metro Public Relations Committee Chair. “We were extremely happy to partner with Long Island Cares in addressing the critical issue of hunger in our communities and were very pleased with the end result- the food that we collected in all of our Long Island McDonald’s restaurants, and the manner in which Long Island Cares coordinated pickups”, said Luciana Montuoro, Long Island McDonald’s Marketing and Public Relations Director. “It’s a great feeling when you witness communities coming together to support those in need. And kudos to the Suffolk and Nassau County Girl Scouts for joining in and adding a special touch to this wonderful program by decorating all 82 food collection boxes that were in the restaurants!”
“Having the opportunity to work with Long Island McDonald’s and their restaurant owners means a great deal to our organization and our efforts towards solving hunger on Long Island,” said Paule Pachter, Long Island Cares’ CEO. “Being able to brand with a major corporation provides us with the ability to reach out to so many people across our region who visit Long Island McDonald’s regularly, and to know that their customers are supporting the regional food bank at a crucial time of need during the holiday season is extremely gratifying. We look forward to working with Long Island McDonald’s and the Girl Scouts next year to build upon the success we just experienced.”
