Healthy Food Banking

HEALTH FOR ALL

Island Harvest’s approach to food banking

By rebecca williams

When CEO and President Randi Shubin Dresner was recruited to Island Harvest in 2001, she had already been working for nonprofits for over 20 years. However, the small organization housed in donated space four flights above a Mineola bank pulled on her heartstrings. There were no offices, no place to store food. The two trucks used for transport had gaping holes in the floors. Yet, she saw its potential.

“I was hooked," she said.

The staff was determined and passionate about their shared goal: to end hunger and food waste on Long Island.

“We were scrappy, but we were accom- plished and doing important work," she said.

Over the next 21 years, they worked tirelessly to accomplish their goal by facilitating Long Island’s largest hunger-relief organization.

“We now have a staff of 65 people, and we are averaging a distribution of about 18 million pounds of product a year out into the community. That represents about 16 million meals that we supplement and support,” she said.

Island Harvest partners with retailers and supermarkets to procure donations that are then inspected and inventoried. Food is labeled, sorted and stored at the organization's Melville homebase.

Working with more than 400 community-based nonprofits, Island Harvest distributes food to virtually every zip code on Long Island, with a combination of school programs and home deliveries.

“We're doing home deliveries to people who are senior citizens, people with disabilities, veterans and people during these past two years who are afraid to come out because of Covid,” Dresner explained. “We bring the food to them."

In a world where Coca-Cola is king and “shelf-safe” foods are most often donated, this organization takes a different route. Island Harvest prioritizes fresh produce and healthy options and focuses on quality of donations and distributions.

Dr. Marianna Wetherill, associate professor of health promotion sciences at the University of Oklahoma, highlights the impor-

CEO and President of Island Harvest Randi Shubin Dresner. photo by rebecca williams

tance of healthy food options in her studies of food insecurity and hunger.

“They want healthier options than what they’re currently being provided," said Wetherill. "By starting with patient needs, you’re really helping to support patient autonomy and allowing them to play a more active role in their health.”

Island Harvest works in health education, with the goal of not only providing healthy options, but also teaching people how to actively incorporate those foods into their diet.

“We can’t make decisions about what kinds of food people need," she said. "We have to talk to them and understand what kind of foods they want. We want to teach them about healthy eating."

By the end of 2022, the organization plans to have completed renovations on a new fridge and freezer unit. A “re-pack room” will also be operational, allowing bulk donations to be repackaged into single-servings for easier distribution. Additionally, a “nutritional demonstration center” will be made available with cooking stations to teach participants how to prepare healthy, easy and inexpensive meals.

“Food banks do so much more than fight hunger,” said Wetherill. “They’re also helping to build overall stability in a household and making sure there’s more quality and variety available for people’s diets." Island Harvest strives to be a “holistic organization” that works to combat hunger, foster a community and provide tools and resources to allow people to improve their lives. “To be an inclusive organization is to be responsive to the community that we are supporting,” said Dresner. An Island Harvest staff member unloads boxes of donated yogurt. Photo by rebecca williams