Founded in 1980 by singer, Grammy winning songwriter and social activist Harry Chapin, Long Island Cares Inc. – The Harry Chapin Food Bank is recognized by both The Emergency Food Assistance Program of the USDA (TEFAP) and the NYS Department of Health, Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) as the regional food bank for Long Island.
At Long Island Cares, we understand that it takes more than food to feed the hungry. Therefore, in addition to supplying nutritious food for hungry and food insecure Long Islanders when and where needed, we sponsor a wide variety of innovate direct service programs that help families achieve self-sufficiency.
These programs include, but are not limited to: veterans services such as our VetsWork employment program, Baxter’s Pet Pantry, children’s nutrition programs such as AsparaGus’s Children’s Breakfast Food Truck, the Kids Café Food and Afterschool Mentoring Program, and the Pack It Up for Kids weekend meal program, and a variety of mobile outreach and food distribution services to ensure that homeless Long Islanders, disabled veterans, senior citizens and other populations for whom travel is difficult receive the services and assistance they need.
Long Island Cares is a member of Feeding America. We are a BBB accredited charity and recently received Charity Navigator’s highest 4-star rating for the sixth consecutive year. We are proud to carry on Harry’s legacy of tireless advocacy and effort on behalf of hungry and food insecure Long Islanders.
