Huntington Restaurants, LI Cares Join Forces To Raise Money For Pantry

HUNTINGTON, NY — Thirteen Huntington restaurants are raising funds for Long Island Cares's Huntington Station food pantry, the food bank announced.

Restaurants placed table cards featuring an appeal for donations and QR codes for customers to offer money. The fundraiser is set to last through the end of September — Hunger Action Month.

Long Island Cares board members pledged to match up to $50,000 in contributions, so every donation will effectively be doubled, said Kaylin Peterson, philanthropy manager at Long Island Cares. She estimates $10 will provide 12 meals when accounting for the board members' match.

People can donate to Long Island Cares here.

Peterson said organizing the event for the first time was a "doozy." She and a volunteer, Jeff Damiano, recruited restaurants to the initiative. She said it's "amazing" seeing restaurants joining the fight against food insecurity.

The participating restaurants in Huntington are: Burgerology; Village Bagel Cafe; Over Easy; Portofino; Cinema Arts Centre; Parea Greek Restaurant; Yaaas Tea; Neraki Greek Grill; Six Harbors Brewing Company; Old Fields BBQ; Toast & Co.; Meehans; and Oaxaca Mexican Grill.

Damiano has been volunteering with Long Island Cares for a few years since he left the corporate business. While he has done food drives and warehouse packing, he's now aiming to use his corporate marketing and business work experience to benefit the hungry.

He called fighting food insecurity "extremely satisfying."

"After working in the corporate world all my life, always focusing on driving the bottom line and profitability, it's so much more invigorating to have some time to focus on a very different bottom line and how that can improve the lives of people who might live right down the street from you," Damiano told Patch. "It brings to mind a quote from Dickens...'No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of others.'"

Damiano said the restaurant business is "chaotic," so his biggest challenge was getting the owner or manager at the right time so they could focus on the pitch and understand Long Island Cares's mission.

"Once you have their attention, it's not a hard sell," he said. "They get it, and they understand the importance what Long Island Cares brings to the food-insecure in the community and those who need the support most."

Giavanna Decicco, manager of Portofino, has a best friend who once interned with Long Island Cares. Decicco, who has donated herself in the past, said it was "pretty cool" when Damiano came into the store on behalf of the food bank. She saw the QR code program as a good way to shed light on Long Island Cares and its mission.

"I feel like people see Long Island Cares all around but they don't really know exactly what it's for or what's going on," Decicco said. "I think, especially in the restaurant business, it's important to promote things like that for the food insecure, because they can't necessarily get things from us directly."

Damiano said the owners or managers were sometimes "shocked" by the stats and sheer number of food-insecure people in their own neighborhood.

"I think they may even see the contradiction, that they are serving customers who can pay handsomely for a plate of food in their restaurant while there are those who could never afford to eat out, but struggle to afford just to put a plate of food on the kitchen table for their family and children," he said.

Peterson said she continues to be shocked by Damiano's success enlisting eateries to the program.

"He’s really been such an asset to this program," she said. "You can tell that he is passionate about raising awareness about food insecurity on Long Island; his ambitiousness with this program really proves it."

Peterson said the amount of restaurants and businesses participating has been "truly wonderful."

"They aren’t just taking one or two cards either, some have taken 30 – one for every table they have," she said.

Pam Rooney, co-owner of Parea, said the restaurant feels good about helping Long Island Cares.

"We're always there to help our community," she said.

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.