Woodbury, NY - November 9, 2015 - Island Harvest Food Bank is pleased to announce that its 22nd Annual Taste of the Harvest Celebration raised $310,000 to help provide food assistance to more than 316,000 Long Islanders who face not having enough to eat each day. The event, which was held on Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, New York, was attended by approximately 480 business and community leaders, as well as friends of Island Harvest.
A combination of the efficient movement and storage of food, a resourceful staff and a corps of 5,000 dedicated volunteers, allows Island Harvest to put 94 cents out of every dollar donated directly towards programs and services, making Island Harvest one of Long Island’s best-known and most trusted nonprofit organizations.
This year’s Taste of the Harvest Celebration featured a sumptuous array of 36 of Long Island’s finest food establishments, which in an atypical fundraising style, treated guests to a sampling of a wide-variety of tantalizing gourmet food, desserts and local wine from some of the region’s best restaurants, catering facilities, dessert shops and vineyards. The occasion was also used to honor longtime Island Harvest supporter Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation Fund, for its funding of hunger-relief efforts on Long Island.
The Taste of the Harvest Celebration was co-emceed by K98.3 on-air personalities Jon Daniels and Tara Reifert.
Long Island businessmen Philip Wachtler, principal at Wachtler Knopf Equities LLC, and Gabriel Alonso, president/partner of Unitrends USA Inc., both of whom are long-standing, dedicated supporters of Island Harvest served as co-chairmen of the Taste of the Harvest Celebration. Corporate and other sponsors of the event included Unitrends USA Inc.; the Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation, Inc.; the Frank J. Antun Foundation; Capital One Bank; Jill & Jay Bernstein; NIC Holding Corp.; Ellen & Harvey Sanders; Robin & Philip Wachtler; Carter, DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt, LLP; MSC Industrial Supply Co.; Judy & Donald Rechler and Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc.
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 and involuntary lack of access to food. More than 300,000 Long Islanders face the risk of hunger every day, according to Island Harvest and Feeding America, a national hunger-relief organization. These are often hard-working adults, children, seniors and veterans who cannot always make ends meet and 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 poverty 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 charity. More information can be found at www.islandharvest.org.
Contact:
Don Miller
West End Strategies, Ltd.
516-330-1647
westendstrategies@gmail.com