Unitarian Universalists Step Up to the Plate on Hunger
December 28, 2009
(Manhasset, N.Y.)-As the jobless recovery neglects to put food on the tables of the long-time unemployed, more Long Island families are facing the harsh reality of hunger. Recognizing this hidden crisis, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock (UUCSR) is giving $600,000 in grants to four not-for-profit organizations working to feed the hungry and the poor on Long Island.
The Interfaith Nutrition Network (The INN) will receive $225,000 to boost services at its 19 soup kitchens and shelters. Island Harvest, $150,000; Long Island Cares—The Harry Chapin Food Bank, $125,000; and the Long Island Council of Churches, $100,000, to expand their emergency food and delivery programs.
Food pantries, soup kitchens and other feeding programs across the island report increases of up to 35% in the number of people seeking help this year. Lay-offs, underemployment, loss of health insurance coupled with medical problems and rising taxes, utility costs, mortgage payments and transportation costs are often cited. The need for food also historically increases in winter.
“Each of these four organizations plays a unique role in feeding the poor and hungry on Long Island and each has the infrastructure to quickly deploy a large grant effectively at this critical time,” said Lauren Furst, president of the Manhasset congregation. UUCSR has about 700 members and is home to the UU Veatch Program, a philanthropic program that supports long-term social change. The congregation voted on Nov.15 to approve the $600,000 through a more recently initiated Large Grants Program, which can provide funding in a crisis.
“We want to encourage generosity and highlight this acute, unmet need for food assistance on Long Island,” said the Rev. Paul Johnson, senior minister at UUCSR. “These grants are in keeping with Unitarian Universalism’s liberal, non-traditional religious principles that affirm the inherent worth of every human being and inspire us to do good in the world.”
The INN will use $100,000 at its largest soup kitchen, the Mary Brennan INN in Hempstead, which now serves 450 people daily, to handle an expected 100 to 150 more. The other 18 affiliated soup kitchens will share $90,000, and $35,000 will go to serve more meals at its three homeless shelters.
“On behalf of the guests in our network of soup kitchens and emergency shelters, we thank the Unitarian Universalist Congregation for this generous gift,” said The INN’s Executive Director Jean Kelly. “This funding has an immediate impact on our ability to meet the increased demand our staff and volunteers see each day. We are hopeful others will witness this act of compassion and generosity and know that gifts large or small enable The INN to provide warm nutritious meals Island-wide.”
With its $150,000, Island Harvest, which serves as a ”wholesale” distributor of food recovered from 800 commercial donors and partners, can deliver 465,000 more pounds of food to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens and feeding programs in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
“Island Harvest and the countless men, women and children on Long Island who access the food programs we serve are grateful for this most generous gift,” said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest. “Through partnerships with this congregation and others, we can work together in addressing the increasing problem of hunger on Long Island.”
Long Island Cares, which distributes food to 500 member agencies, shelters, senior meal sites and food pantries, will use its $125,000 to support its programs and extend its capacity, including launching a MORE van that will travel throughout the island to dispense information, referrals and emergency food supplies at such locations as libraries, parks and shopping centers.
“The generosity and support of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock could not come at a more significant time,” said Paule Pachter, executive director of LIC. “The need for food and support services has hit record numbers in both Nassau and Suffolk County as a result of increasing unemployment, rising healthcare costs, mortgage foreclosures and the poor economy. The grant provided to Long Island Cares will also enable us to expand our programs into Nassau County with the development of the Long Island Cares Nassau Service Center.”
The $100,000 grant to the Long Island Council of Churches, the largest interfaith group in the region, will enable it to expand its staff and services and feed at least 50 percent more people through its regional pantries in Hempstead, Freeport and Riverhead and other programs.
“This grant will both allow us to keep up with the growing number of people coming for emergency food and also help address some crucial needs that are hard to meet with donated food we receive,” said Rev. Tom Goodhue, executive director of LICC. “There is a chronic shortage of diabetic items, low-fat, low-salt food, infant formula, and prenatal nutrition. We’re deeply grateful to the extraordinary generosity that the Shelter Rock Congregation has shown toward us–and toward their neighbors in need.”
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock (UUCSR) at 48 Shelter Rock Road in Manhasset, is affiliated with more than 1,000 UU congregations across the continent. UUCSR honors the mind and spirit—thinking and feelings—in serving its religious mission of worship, education for all ages, fellowship and social justice.
Photo left to right:
Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO, Island Harvest; Jean Kelly, executive director, Interfaith Nutrition Network; Rev. Paul Johnson, senior minister, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock (UUCSR); Lauren Furst, congregation president, UUCSR; Rev. Tom Goodhue, executive director, Long Island Council of Churches and Paule Pachter, executive director of Long Island Cares.
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