Retired Teacher Volunteers at LI Cares's Huntington Station Food Pantry

HUNTINGTON STATION, NY — Robin Obey, a former teacher, has spent her retired life educating herself on how best to give back to the food-insecure population.

Obey, a Huntington resident, has volunteered at the Long Island Cares Huntington Station pantry on Wednesday afternoons for the past three years. The green-thumbed educator also works in the food bank's Vet Garden, where she and a team plant a variety of vegetables. Those crops are then harvested and brought to the food pantry.

When Obey was still teaching at Park Avenue Elementary in North Merrick, during each summer, the school ran a "grow to give" program. The school would harvest vegetables and donate beans, lettuce and potatoes to the Huntington Station Food Pantry.

"Now that I am working there, I see how much fresh produce is appreciated by the clients," Obey told Patch. "As people are planting their home gardens, they can think about growing an extra row (or two) to share."

Obey's gardening for Long Island Cares runs from April through November. Later this year, Long Island Cares anticipates the launch of a new home gardening program for Huntington Station clients. Obey will volunteer as assistant to Dali Boczek, director of satellite services at Long Island Cares and a master gardener herself.

Obey said she is "really excited" to be part of Boczek's Home Gardening project.

"We will be showing clients how to plant various vegetable seeds," Obey said. "The pots will stay in the pantry in the grow lab until the weather is warm enough for them to be transplanted at the clients’ homes in the ground or in larger containers. Not only will clients havec hoices as to what they want to plant, but through this experience they will discover the magic and ease of growing their own food. How empowering this will be!"

Volunteering has been important to Obey, ever since she was in high school.

"I was aware of the significant work LI Cares does combating food insecurity, and, through a friend, learned about volunteer opportunities," Obey said.

When Obey's friend moved upstate and could no longer volunteer at the Huntington Station food pantry, Obey herself was retiring from teaching that year and could devote time to volunteerism. She called the timing "perfect."

"Each week I look forward to meeting and interacting with the clients," Obey said. "Since I have been volunteering for the past three years, I have come to know some of their food preferences and we sometimes chat about recipe ideas or their beloved pets."

Obey took it upon herself to learn Spanish last year.

"I wanted to improve my communication with clients, making their shopping experience at the pantry as welcoming, comfortable and positive as possible," she said.

Obey said the number of individuals who are food-insecure on Long Island is "staggering."

"Rather than simply feeling bad about this troubling situation, volunteering for LI Cares, both in the pantry and in the garden, means I can do something concrete," she said. "I am able to make a positive difference in people’s lives each week. No one should have to worry where their next meal comes from. That said, I am deeply concerned about cuts that are being made to USDA’s food assistance programs which directly support food pantries like ours. Real people’s lives are being affected. Combating food insecurity takes individuals, communities and government support."

Long Island Cares spokesman Pete Crescenti said Obey is an "extremely compassionate volunteer who brings a smile to anyone she is assisting."

"Every month, she goes shopping with money her and a friend save and buy $200 worth of food for the pantry," Crescenti 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.