LI Cares Gets 5-Year $25M Grant From NYS: 'Very Significant,' CEO Says

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Long Island Cares received a five-year, $25 million contract from New York state with the goal of helping food-insecure people on the island, Long Island Cares announced.

Long Island Cares plans to use the funds to buy as much nutritious food as possible and distribute it to 325 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, seniors, veterans, school children, the homeless and more. The food bank will have access to approximately $5 million of the funding each year. It is the biggest grant Long Island Cares has ever received, Paule Pachter, CEO of Long Island Cares, said.

Around 220,000 Long Islanders — 65,000 of whom are children — suffer from food insecurity each year.

"It's very significant because we can procure approximately $2.5 million in healthy food, fresh produce, low fat milk and lean proteins," Pachter told Patch.

The money will provide about 19 million meals over the next five years, according to LI Cares.

The funding will come from two state programs: Hunger Prevention & Nutrition Assistance Program and Nourish NY. The Nourish NY funds can only be spent on food grown, produced and distributed in New York state.

Long Island Cares, being one of eight "regional" food banks in the state, has received hunger prevention and nutrition assistance money for decades. Nourish NY was established during the coronavirus pandemic.

The food bank looks to buy healthy, lean, low fat and low sodium items when possible, said Robert Labarbara, vice president for supply chain and procurement at Long Island Cares. Examples include fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt, cheese, chicken, ground beef and Long Island seafood.

Much of the seafood comes from Haskell's Seafood, caught fresh by fisherman and owner Peter Haskell. His business works with more than 100 local fishermen and crew from Freeport to Montauk. Haskell's commits to only harvesting Long Island landings.

Nourish NY benefits the Long Island economy, Pachter said, because the food bank purchases fresh produce from the island's farmers and fish caught in Long Island's waters.

Since Nourish NY began in May 2020, Haskell's Seafood has processed more than 200,000 pounds of local seafood by December 2021 for Long Island Cares. Haskell estimates the processing yielded over 85,000 pounds of fillet, feeding 170,000 food-insecure Long Islanders.

"I can only say that the gratification of working with Long Island Cares and providing our local resources to local Long Islanders at a time when supply chains were broken could not have been more rewarding, not only to me, but our entire hard working staff," Haskell said. "Even with times changing now, food insecurity unfortunately does not have an immediate solution. Every day we are driven with purpose, and as we continue to have this opportunity to service our neighbors who are most in need through Long Island Cares. I really don't think there is much more significance one could find in a good day's work."

Long Island Cares will use the HPNAP funding to purchase food across the United States, Pachter said. The nutrition assistance program funds are awarded through a competitive grant process, and Long Island Cares has consistently scored highly since 1980, according to Pachter. The organization has received support from both the state and United States Department of Agriculture.

While the HPNAP funds can be spent outside of New York — unlike the Nourish NY funding — Labarbara said Long Island Cares has good connections and relationships with farms on the island and across the state. The food bank gets fresh items delivered weekly from local suppliers and also partners with Feeding New York State to purchase available produce.

When Kristine Lehn, vice president of network services at Long Island Cares, wrote the grant application to the state, she invoked the food bank's long-standing track record of providing safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate foods to its network of 325 agencies running approximately 520 programs.

The nonprofit also provides nutrition, food safety, and health education programs through workshops, online conferences and its annual Agency Conference.

"Long Island Cares is constantly monitoring the needs and issues of our client base regarding food security so we can strengthen program effectiveness and/or develop new programs," Lehn said she told the state.

The food bank also strives to help people increase their independence from the emergency food programs through its New Paths to Achievement; VetsWork; Just Say Yes to Fruits & Vegetables programs.

A percentage of the funds will go toward helping agencies Long Island Cares serves with infrastructure and operating expenses.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.