Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman recently joined Long Island Cares CEO Katherine M. Fritz, Island Harvest CEO Randi Shubin Dresner, and other Nassau officials to declare a state of emergency and announce that the two organizations will be receiving additional emergency funding to combat food insecurity tied to the federal government shutdown.
Blakeman said he is taking this step to ensure no family in Nassau County goes hungry while Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are delayed.
“With the issues that are going on in Washington, D.C. right now, there are many people who are in jeopardy of not being able to feed themselves and their families. So we are trying to help and supplement the things that a lot of our great not-for-profits are doing here on Long Island,” he said.
As part of the emergency funding effort, Nassau County will provide $50,000 per week to both Island Harvest and Long Island Cares to help them continue their essential work until SNAP benefits are restored. Approximately 31,450 households in Nassau County currently rely on those benefits.
“Food is a right. We need to be able to know that we’re going to be able to have access to a good, healthy meal. And these funds are going to allow us to purchase that kind of food and get it out into the community here in Nassau County really, really quickly,” Dresner said.
“This is an important time in our lives on Long Island to make sure that we’re focused on the people…who are struggling every day to make sure that their families have food on their table,” Fritz added.
Information about local food resources, including food pantry and soup kitchen listings, can be found on Nassau County’s website.