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Fighting hunger and touching lives, Island Harvest — Long Island’s largest hunger relief organization — serves as the bridge between those who have surplus food and those who need it. Our volunteers and staff “rescue,” or collect, good surplus food from over 600 local restaurants, caterers, farms, and other food-related businesses; and distribute it to a network of close to 500 soup kitchens, food pantries, and other places where those in need can access it. We also conduct educational programs to increase hunger awareness and inform the public how they can get involved in our mission to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island.
Island Harvest has received a four star rating – the highest – from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent evaluator of charities, two years running.
Our Story
Island Harvest was founded in 1992 by Linda Breitstone, who was infuriated that a local convenience store was throwing away good food, with a soup kitchen right down the street. She created Island Harvest and our mission: to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island.
Since those early days, Island Harvest has grown to become the third largest food rescue organization in the United States. Our corps of 1,000 active and trained volunteers and staff of 18 now rescue and deliver seven million pounds of food per year, supplementing about 5.4 million meals.
Recently, we have developed new programs to attack hunger in targeted and strategic ways. These include The Kids Backpack Feeding Program, which helps schoolchildren who depend on school meal programs, and our Finding Solutions workshop series, which works with staff and volunteers of our member food programs to help their clients become more self-sufficient.
There are so many ways to get involved with Island Harvest, from Making a contribution or making a long-term investment by leaving Island Harvest in your will, How to become a volunteer, How to run a food drive or Becoming a sponsor. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Read our 2007 annual report (PDF)
Annual Report Archive: 2006 (PDF)
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