Suffolk Veterans To Receive Free Turkey, Sides, From LI Cares, PSEG LI

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Suffolk County veterans will be able to receive a free Thanksgiving meal courtesy of Long Island Cares, PSEG LI and the Suffolk County Veteran Service Agency, the food bank announced.

Veterans can head to the H. Lee Dennison Building, at 100 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge from 10 a.m. 2 p.m. Nov. 16 for the free Veterans Thanksgiving Distribution event. They will be gifted turkeys and baskets full of trimmings.

Visitors must show identification confirming their veteran status and Suffolk County residency.
Pre-registration here is encouraged.

"Long Island Cares relies on corporate support to help fulfill our mission," said Dr. Jessica Rosati, vice president for programs at Long Island Cares, in a news release. "This partnership has become a necessary lifeline for Long Island's most vulnerable populations. We are humbled by the support provided by PSEG Long Island's Community Partnership and are grateful for our continued commitment to addressing Long Island's food insecurity."

Many of the veterans — 23 percent — using the emergency food network are also retired seniors, according to Rosati.

"This event validated this statistic as most registrants are retired," Rosati told Patch. "Retired veterans are relying on Long Island Cares to feed their families this holiday season. It is our privilege to be able to partner with PSEG LI and Suffolk County Veterans to offer this wonderful program and ensure that the retired military will have a bountiful and healthy holiday meal."

Long Island Cares’ outreach to veterans also includes Military Appreciation Tuesdays at its five owned-and-operated food pantries; Veterans Mobile Outreach Unit, which distributes food, personal care products and household supplies at community-based Veteran events across Long Island; VetsWork, which equips Veterans with essential job skills; and Care Coordination, which aligns Veterans with information and services to help meet their non-food needs, such as housing and health care. The food bank’s Department of Government Relations & Advocacy is expected to donate more than 1,400 Thanksgiving turkeys at other locations.

Since 2021, PSEG Long Island has partnered with Long Island Cares to increase access to nutritious food for veterans and seniors.

"We are proud to partner with Long Island Cares to sponsor a variety of events and activities to help veterans throughout the month of November," said David Lyons, PSEG Long Island interim president and COO. "This initiative is an opportunity for us to honor veterans in our community and thank them for their service. I am grateful to our PSEG Long Island employees for raising their hands to support our neighbors who served."

Long Island Cares provides emergency food and supplies to 221,000 Long Islanders facing food
insecurity. In addition to the food bank location in Hauppauge and the 325 food pantries, soup
kitchens, shelters and other locations it provides food to, Long Island Cares pantries are located in
Huntington Station, Lindenhurst, Hampton Bays, Freeport and Bethpage.

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.