Attorneys and staff from our Long Island office recently spent a day helping address the problem of hunger on Long Island. The team volunteered during Catholic Health’s “Day of Action” at Long Island Cares, the region’s first food bank, to pack non-perishables and other essential items into boxes for donation to the public at local food pantries.

Half-way through the day’s shifts, the team paused for a special presentation. On behalf of Harris Beach, Partner Jared Kasschau presented Long Island Cares with an initial $5,000 donation in support of a new initiative aimed at reducing food insecurity across the community.

The multi-faceted initiative, organized by our client Catholic Health, recognizes that access to nutritious food is crucial to preventive health. Catholic Health is partnering with Harris Beach and Long Island Cares to expand Catholic Health’s emergency food “to-go” bags program that distributes food “to-go” bags to individuals identified as food insecure in their six Catholic Health emergency rooms and the Bishop McHugh Center on Long Island. Those who receive the bags also receive follow up to identify resources such as SNAP that can provide regular access to healthy foods. This program will continue to expand into the community in 2023.

“Nobody should go hungry in this community, or in any other community,” Jared said. “We congratulate Catholic Health for rallying the community to devote the resources to address food insecurity across Long Island.”