C.W. Post Students Coordinate Food Drive to Benefit Long Islanders
Bins available in Kumble Hall

Fact: Nearly 259,000 people living on Long Island—93,000 of them children and 39,000 seniors—are hungry and turn to soup kitchens, food pantries or shelters for food assistance each year.

Fact: Hunger is a hidden epidemic here on Long Island. It affects families, friends and neighbors. Two out of every five people who seek help must choose between paying for food and paying their rent or utility bills, while more than one out of four must choose between food and medical care.

Fact: From March 19-23, 2007 you can make a difference by donating canned goods and non-perishable food items by dropping them in specially marked Long Island Cares Harry Chapin Food Bank bins located in Kumble Hall on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. The initiative is being spearheaded by students in a Master of Business Administration class taught by Dr. David Jalajas, associate professor in the Department of Management.

Long Island Cares is a leading community-based, not-for-profit anti-hunger organization. As the only food bank on Long Island, its mission is to bring all available community resources together, by partnering with other charitable agencies, to fight hunger and to assist hungry Long Islanders residing in Nassau and Suffolk counties.  Long Island Cares provides emergency food assistance as needed, sponsors programs that help families achieve self-sufficiency and raises public awareness regarding hunger on Long Island.

Founded in 1980 by the late singer/activist Harry Chapin in response to the immediate needs of hungry Long Islanders, Long Island Cares continues today under the leadership of his wife and partner Sandy Chapin. In response to the need for a year-round resource, in 1982, Long Island Cares opened the Harry Chapin Food Bank. The food bank receives warehouses and distributes millions of pounds of donated and purchased food from various sources and member agencies. In 2005, it distributed almost 5 million pounds of food, which provided approximately 3 million meals to individuals in need.

The C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University is located at 720 Northern Boulevard in Brookville, N.Y.