Kids Weekend Backpack Feeding Program
For many children, weekends can mean missed meals. These food packs help hold children and their families over until they return to school on Mondays when free school meals resume.
Through partnerships with 57 schools in Long Island’s most vulnerable districts, we deliver weekend food packs to more than 3,100 children every week across 40 school districts in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Each pack includes two breakfasts, two snacks, and ingredients for a family dinner.
Students eagerly look forward to these packs each weekend. Families also receive newsletters with simple recipes, healthy eating tips, and information about local community resources—extending support beyond the food itself.
For more information, please contact Veterans’ & Children’s Programs Supervisor Karina Hayes at karinah@islandharvest.org or 631.873.4775 x121.
Summer Food Service Program
Summer can be a stressful time for families when school meals disappear. During the school year, thousands of Long Island children rely on free breakfast and lunch to fuel their learning and play. When school ends, access to those meals often ends too.
Through the Summer Food Service Program, supported by the New York State Department of Education, we partner with nearly 27 community sites across Long Island—libraries, schools, recreation centers, health centers, churches, parks, and more—to bring meals to children where they already gather.
In 2025, we served nearly 48,000 meals to more than 1,450 children across 19 Nassau and Suffolk school districts. Each site also offered hands-on nutrition education, helping children discover the importance of healthy eating—often with wide eyes as they learned how much sugar is in popular cereals and drinks, and excitement as they tried new fruits for the first time.
For more information, please contact Veterans’ & Children’s Programs Supervisor Karina Hayes at karinah@islandharvest.org or 631.873.4775 x121.
School Pantry Program
With more than 100,000 children on Long Island who are dealing with food insecurity, we have increased our work within the schools. Schools are now offering more services to students beyond education. Some schools on Long Island have extended their services to include physical health and mental health appointments, before and after school care and food pantries. Our School Pantry program is operated at 43 schools, including 3 college pantries. These schools offer food to students throughout the school year in a discreet manner to take the stigma out of accessing food assistance. The convenience of these on-site school pantries allows the families and students to get the food they need in a trusted and comfortable environment.
For further information about this program, please contact Jean Potter, Network Relations Supervisor, jean@islandharvest.org or 631-873-4775.
Youth Produce Project
The Youth Produce Project, launched in 2013 in partnership with the Stop & Shop Family Foundation, provides children and their families with produce boxes containing a variety of fresh fruits and/or vegetables. Island Harvest’s Registered Dietitian Nutritionist demonstrates how to cook or prepare the contents of these boxes, offering healthy recipes and nutrition education. We partner with nine Head Start locations across Long Island to reach children and families who are low-income and at-risk for food insecurity. This holistic hunger relief initiative helps children and families, who may lack the resources to access healthy foods, learn how to incorporate the produce they receive into their daily meals.
The Youth Produce Project addresses two barriers to accessing healthy food: lack of availability in many neighborhoods and high cost. The program helps prepare children for a lifetime of healthy eating habits by providing a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, engaging them in cooking demonstrations using the items we distribute, and offering age-appropriate literature that emphasizes the importance of making healthy food choices.