U.S. Marines Help Unload 1,750 Turkeys Donated By Stop & Shop

Marines from the 1st Marine Corps District based in Garden City helped unload 1,750 Thanksgiving Turkeys that Stop & Shop donated to Long Island Cares, Inc.- The Harry Chapin Food Bank and Island Harvest Food Bank to battle hunger and food insecurity on Long Island.

Stop & Shop’s Turkey Express program will deliver over 25,000 turkeys and gift cards, a total value of more than $600,000 to hunger relief organizations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island this holiday season.

“The Marines of the 1st Marine Corps District salute the efforts of Long Island Cares – The Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Island Harvest Food Bank; we are pleased to have been able to lend our support to their efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity on Long Island. It is our pleasure to help Stop & Shop deliver these Thanksgiving turkeys to the food banks whose efforts throughout the year help Long Islanders in need provide for their families,” said 1st Marine Corps District Commanding Officer, Colonel Charles Nicol.

According to the 2022 Map the Meal Gap report for Long Island prepared by Feeding America®, an estimated 221,190 people on Long Island identified as food insecure, an increase of 58.3% from the 2021 estimate of 139,760 people. In 2022, the estimated number of children living with food insecurity is 44,780, a 63.4% increase from the estimated 27,580 children living with food insecurity in 2021. Last year, Island Harvest Food Bank and Long Island Cares distributed more than 31 million pounds of food through direct services and a network of more than 300 community-based member agencies in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Visitors to the food pantries, soup kitchens, senior homes, shelters, and other feeding programs served by Long Island Cares are reported to have increased 44% year over year. Meanwhile, Island Harvest is on track to distribute a record 20 million pounds of food this year, far exceeding what the food bank distributed during the height of the pandemic, approximately 18 million pounds in 2020-21, representing an 87% increase over pre-pandemic levels.

“Stop and Shop’s continued support for food banks across the country and certainly here on Long Island makes a significant difference in the lives of our neighbors that are struggling with food insecurity, especially during the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Paule Pachter, President & CEO of Long Island Cares, Inc. “Our network of community-based member agencies including food pantries operated by Long Island Cares are reporting a 44% increase in the number of people requesting emergency food assistance this year. Because of our wonderful partnership with Stop and Shop, we are on track to deliver 20,000 holiday meals to Long Islanders in need.”

“Stop and Shop’s generous donation of frozen turkeys, along with their unwavering, long-term commitment to helping end hunger and reduce food waste, will once again help our Long Island neighbors faced with food insecurity enjoy a more hopeful holiday season,” said Randi Shubin Dresner, president & CEO, Island Harvest Food Bank. “We are also grateful to the U.S. Marine Corps personnel from the 1st Marine Corps District for assisting in offloading the turkeys, and we are thankful for their service to our nation.”

“As a community grocer, we are dedicated to continuing our longstanding tradition of providing turkeys to our fantastic food bank partners, Long Island Cares and Island Harvest, in an effort to help our Long Island neighbors fight food insecurity during this Thanksgiving holiday,” said Daniel Wolk, External Communications Manager of Stop & Shop. “We are especially honored and thankful to have the Marines of the 1st Marine Corps District join us by distributing the turkeys to both food banks, as they continue to go above and beyond to help those in need by not only serving abroad but by also serving us here at home in Long Island.”