Meet The 'Unsung Heroes' Supporting LI Cares' Mission To End Hunger

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Since Harry Chapin founded Long Island Cares 43 years ago, the food bank nonprofit has worked to curb food insecurity on the island with the end goal of eradicating hunger. While the organization relies on donations of time, money and food from the general public, the business and corporate sector has supported the cause.

Long Island Cares is casting a spotlight on its "unsung heroes," or three businesses that have been extraordinarily supportive of the food bank: Haskell’s Seafood, HART Home Comfort and Balsam Farms.

The organization, when purchasing food, office supplies, vehicles, furniture, and more, tends to buy from Long Island businesses. Some merchants have returned the favor.

"The businesses that support us are truly our partners and they understand the issue of hunger and food insecurity," Paule Pachter, CEO of LI Cares, told Patch. "They see our work first-hand and we’re extremely grateful for their very generous support."

Pachter encouraged other businesses to get involved with supporting Long Island Cares. Some businesses have employees volunteer in Long Island Cares warehouses to sort and repack food donations; host corporate-wide food drives; and attend or sponsor special events held by the food bank.

"When businesses get involved they often share the positive experience they had with other businesses, and that frequently leads new businesses to get involved and stay involved," Pachter said.

A few merchants have gone above and beyond, according to LI Cares.

Peter Haskell of Haskell's Seafood, which works with more than 100 local fishermen and crew from Freeport to Montauk, began selling to LI Cares during the coronavirus pandemic as part of the state's Nourish NY program. LI Cares continues to purchase fresh food from Haskell, thanks in part to a five-year, $25 million contract it signed with the state.

Haskell, however, regularly donates much more seafood than the food bank buys from him.

"He is also a generous financial donor to the cause of fighting food insecurity," the food bank stated.

During the pandemic shutdown, Haskell said his business was still processing one of the few sources of healthy local protein on Long Island. Haskell said he and LI Cares aligned to manifest a local supply chain that resisted the damage to the national and global supply chains.

"It was a eureka moment that we all had been built for," Haskell said. "As those first ominous weeks of pandemic announcements began to flow throughout the world, I told myself, 'We now have to use the tools that we have immediately around us, to the best of our ability.'"

Those tools featured refrigerated transportation, freezer and cooler storage, life long relationships with hundreds of Long Island fishermen, and a hardworking staff that wanted to be on the front lines.

"There was a call to action to help our neighbors, and it started with delivering seafood to those who were most at risk," Haskell said. "From there, we aligned with Long Island Cares to reach those who were or had become food insecure."

Being recognized as an "unsung hero" by the organization is "ultimately humbling," Haskell said. Helping food-insecure Long islanders is a lifetime accomplishment with no end in sight, the fisherman said. He credited the staff of both his seafood venture and the food bank.

"These are people who did not quarantine, but chose to be part of a solution," Haskell said. "I admire the many people that worked together to accomplish so much, as I had an opportunity to lead at a time that was unprecedented and chaotic. I'm very proud of that. Ultimately, it has also been a true awakening as to how much more work needs to be done to combat food insecurity. I suppose there is a great silver lining of awareness to all things."

Haskell's Seafood makes monthly donations, especially at times when people need help the most, Haskell said. He praised the symbiotic relationship between his business and LI Cares.

"Imagine the most aligned, mutual, and transparent working experience that one could find," Haskell said. "That is what the work looks like with Long Island Cares. We all work hard; we put our heads down and get each job done. When you look up, you can see that you've made a difference. There aren't many jobs like that."

HART Home Comfort relies on trucks to deliver fuel to the homes it services. The business has a special Long Island Cares truck in its fleet. For years, HART has given the food bank a penny for every gallon of home-heating oil pumped from the truck.

Overall, HART provides the nonprofit with thousands of dollars annually, which it uses to purchase food for pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency food distributors.

"While it is nice to be recognized as an unsung hero, our pride comes from our ability togive back to the communities that we serve," Donna Hart, vice president of finance at HART Home Comfort, said. "We recognize that there is a growing need for our friends and neighbors who are struggling with food insecurity."

HART Home Comfort launched its cause marketing campaign with LI Cares in fall 2018, according to Hart. The business has since contributed approximately $10K a year to the food bank, along with separate one-time contributions in times of emergency, such as the coronavirus outbreak.

The company's entire staff gets involved in LI Cares' Adopt-a-Family for Thanksgiving food drive, Hart said.

"Anyone who knows our family knows that this is a cause close to our hearts," she said. "My husband, Ray, is passionate about cooking and food is a central part of our lives. Being able to help families who find it difficult to provide meals for their families on a daily basis made partnering with Long Island Cares a natural choice for us."

The East Hampton-based Balsam Farms goes "above and beyond" in giving back to LI Cares, the food bank said. Ian Calder-Piedmonte and the farm donate fresh produce, which LI Cares distributes across its network.

LI Cares and Balsam Farms have been working together for at least eight years, and Calder-Piedmonte estimates the farm donates approximately 20,000 pounds of food a year.

"We stress nutritious food to our network agencies and Balsam Farms helps us keep our promise to provide it," LI Cares wrote.

The farm delivers sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, kale, beets, melons, and several other items.

The farm delivers surplus items to LI Cares, as well as a local food pantry.

Calder-Piedmonte said he doesn't think of himself as a hero and wanted to share the credit with people from the farm who contribute to growing and delivering the produce.

"I’m very happy to know that our produce helps Long Island Cares fulfill their mission, and we’re very grateful to them for getting the produce to those in need," Calder-Piedmonte said.

Calder-Piedmonte said he and everyone else at the farm derive happiness from donating nutritious food to those who face hunger.

"We're lucky to be able to farm on the East End of Long Island, which has some of the the best soils and growing conditions anywhere in the world," he said. "We are able to grow many different crops because of the prime soils and generally favorable climate. We’re also able to grow many unique varieties that are both delicious and nutritious, in large part because we distribute everything fresh locally, and benefit from a food conscious and sophisticated culinary market. It is only fitting that those in need are also able to benefit from the healthy, flavorful produce that can be produced on Long Island. We are grateful to Long Island Cares for filling a need, and very happy to play a small part in helping keep people in fed and healthy. We look forward to continuing to work closely with everyone at Long Island Cares, and hopefully do even more."

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.