Island Harvest Food Bank Featured on WABC-TV Special on Saturday, April 16

LongIsland.com

On Saturday, April 16, 2016, WABC-TV aired a special entitled, “PROTECT OUR CHILDREN: COPING, STRESS, & MOVING FORWARD” at 7 p.m., EDT. (Also re-run on Sunday, April 17 at 5:30 a.m.).

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Hauppauge, NY - April 11, 2016 - On Saturday, April 16, 2016, WABC-TV aired a special entitled, “PROTECT OUR CHILDREN: COPING, STRESS, & MOVING FORWARD” at 7 p.m., EDT. (Also re-run on Sunday, April 17 at 5:30 a.m.). The public affairs program featured some youngsters dealing with physical and emotional trauma, including a 10th grade Long Island student coping with the stress of ending up in a shelter with her mother and two siblings after a fire destroyed their home. Their spirit is amazing as they strive to overcome dire economic and health issues as clients of Island Harvest Food Bank.

The issue of hunger, homelessness and other adversities can have a devastating emotional and physical toll on children,” said Rand Shubin Dresner, president & CEO, Island Harvest Food Bank. “Island Harvest provides not just food, but other vital resources and services to help people transition from uncertainty to stability and we’re pleased to have WABC-TV spread the word that people facing adversity have a variety of options to assist them.”

“Protect Our Children” is hosted by Eyewitness News Anchor, Diana Williams, and the edition airing on Saturday, April 16 delves into what experts are referring to as an epidemic of stress-related problems that plague our children.  According to the American Psychological Association says one in three teens is stressed, and physicians report treating children kids as young as six for migraines and ulcers.

This Special is the nineteenth in a series from WABC-TV’s “Protect Our Children” campaign that began in 1998 and includes informational safety messages, a website, and campaign that continues to broadcast the pictures of missing children in every Eyewitness News Program. Previous Specials have received five Emmy Awards, six “Gracie” Awards from the American Women in Radio-TV-Film (AWRT) and Awards from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, (NCMEC). All of the segments along with additional material, web-chats and links to resources and agencies that can be of help will be posted on ABC7NY.com/Protect after the airing of the program.

About Hunger on Long Island
Hunger is a state in which people do not get enough food to provide the nutrients for active and healthy lives. It can result from the recurrent lack of access to food. More than 316,000 Long Islanders face the risk of hunger every day, according to Island Harvest Food Bank and Feeding America, a national hunger-relief organization. Those facing hunger include adults (often working two jobs), seniors and veterans. Unable to make ends meet, they (and their children) are often forced to go without food. Approximately 70,000 individuals seek food assistance in Nassau and Suffolk counties each week through soup kitchens, food pantries and other feeding programs served by Island Harvest.

About Island Harvest Food Bank
Island Harvest Food Bank is a leading hunger-relief organization that provides food and other resources to people in need. Always treating those it helps with dignity and respect, its goal is to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island through efficient food collection and distribution; enhanced hunger-awareness and nutrition-education programs; job training; and direct services targeted at children, senior citizens, veterans and others at risk. Approximately 94 cents of every dollar donated to Island Harvest goes to programs that support more than 316,000 Long Islanders. Island Harvest is a lead agency in the region’s emergency-response preparedness for food and product distribution, and is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization. More information can be found at www.islandharvest.org.