Farmingville Vegetarian/Vegan Food Share Seeks To End Animal And Human Suffering All Year, Not Just Holidays

FARMINGVILLE, NY — Sometimes, around the holidays it can be hard to lose sight of how there are people who need help and might not be able to put food on their table to celebrate. It might also be easy to lose focus that not all of the people in need of help sit down to a traditional turkey or ham roast dinner.

In fact, they might not eat poultry or meat at all, whether it be for religious, cultural, political, or dietary reasons. They might practice vegetarianism, which excludes meat and poultry but can allow fish and dairy products, or veganism, which includes a strict diet without any animal products.

That said, the traditional holiday meal giveaway of turkey or ham with all the trimmings, while very well-intentioned, is not for them.

They turn to Community Solidarity, which is the largest vegetarian food organization in the U.S.

"We try to focus on compassionate food," Jon Stepanian, the organization's president and chief executive officer, told Patch Tuesday. "We think that there's a lot of exploitation around society, and people try to generally overlook the poor and the hungry, just like they overlook the suffering of animals."

"And you know what? They're fundamentally tied in our point of view," he added.

"If you justify the suffering of any one being, you allow for the suffering of another," he said. "So we just don't want to contribute to any pain, whether it's human, or animal, or to the earth. So we try to do the best we can for humans and animals on earth."

Community Solidarity operates food shares across Long Island, including Farmingville, Hempstead, Huntington, and Wyandanch, as well as Brooklyn in New York City. Thousands of pounds of food are distributed to those in need each week, with the goal of it being healthy and organic.

The organization also distributes to soup kitchens and food pantries.

"Community Solidarity rescues food from supermarkets and farm stands that normally wouldn't be able to be sold," Stepanian said, explaining that it can be bread or surplus bananas or oranges. "We try to focus on fresh fruits and vegetables."

Last week, the organization partnered with Lily's Vegan Pantry of New York City, which donated 160 packages of vegan chicken and 100 vegan ham roasts, and the event was marked by a visit from "Santa Claus," who was on hand to give out toys.

In recognition of their work with vegetarian and vegan people in need, the group was honored with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' "Vegan Compassion in Action” award.

Former PETA staffer, John DiLeonardo, who serves as executive director of Humane Long Island, presented the organization with the award.

He tipped his hat to the volunteers for the amount of food that they give out each week, something he says is "bolstered" around the holidays.

He was amazed at the number of people who showed up looking for help the night of the special presentation.

"There's such a big need," he said. "They do it via drive-through. And people can walk up if they don't have a car, but, the cars line up, and for an hour or longer. Usually, cars are receiving multiple big boxes of grocery items that last them the whole week."

Sometimes, there is also pet food, which DiLeonardo often donates.

It's not as reliable though.

Reliably, the organization will give one to two big boxes of food to every car.

"Sometimes you will get lucky, and you get something extra, like pet food or toys at Christmas, or, you know, these vegan meats," DiLeonardo added, noting that around 100 Tofurky meals were given out at Thanksgiving.

Not unlike other food relief organizations, Community Solidarity has seen an increase in need in the region.

The organization serves about 13,000 people per week across the region, which has increased nearly fourfold from around 4,000 in 2018. About 500 people alone are helped weekly in Farmingville.

"The need in general has been up the past few years with inflation and everything," Stepanian said."[Long Island] is a very expensive place to live. So just in general, like most people who come to us, they're working families. They're people working sometimes two, three jobs, trying to pay the bills and provide for their kids and stuff."

The organization's volunteers will be working through Christmas, and not only will there be food, but toys, of course.

The organization hopes to give out around 815 meal packages in Huntington on Tuesday night, and they won't stop their holiday giving there.

The regular food share scheduled for Thursday will go on despite Christmas.

"We'll provide groceries, warm clothing, and we'll have toys for holidays," Stepanian said.

And unlike other organizations, there is no sign-up — anyone can come, no questions asked.

"Anyone who could use assistance can just show up, and we'll take care of them," he explained.

It's something that the organization's volunteers do every week.

"We work every day of the week over the 19 years I've known," he said. "We're not taking a day off. We do this seven days a week."

"Whether it's a holiday or a hurricane or a blizzard, we're always be there, because there's always people who need the food," he said.

Stepanian wants to drive home the message out that the organization is always available to help.

"We're year-round; It's not just for the holidays," he said. "There's always a need. And, so if anyone ever wants to come down, they're more than welcome just to show up and volunteer, and we'll put them right to work. Or if they need groceries, they're more than welcome to come in line, and we'll get them all the groceries they need."

Community Solidarity's next distribution is Thursday at Triangle Park in Farmingville. It starts at 8:15 p.m. For more information, click here, or say hello at info@communitysolidarity.org.