NASSAU COUNTY, NY - Nassau County Executive Laura Curran today announced that at least 10,000 families in need have been provided a week’s worth of food supplies to date as part of Nassau County’s new Community Food Distribution initiative with Island Harvest. In response to a surge in the demand for food assistance, Nassau County has set aside $1M in federally-reimbursable funds to facilitate the purchase and distribution of critical food supplies.
Since late April, Nassau County has held successful distribution events in Hempstead, Uniondale, Roosevelt, Levittown, Westbury, Hicksville, Five Towns, Long Beach, Glen Cove, Valley Stream, and Long Beach. The County will continue its partnership with Island Harvest with large-scale events and pop-up distributions throughout this summer.
"As we continue working to revive our economy, Nassau is stepping up to support the many families struggling to put food on the table. We’re reaching every corner of the County, and we’re not done yet. Nassau County will continue to meet the surge in demand for food assistance in our communities," said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
The need to provide direct food support is evidenced by the increased number of applications to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). The number of Nassau County residents seeking this assistance has tripled – from 1,095 in April 2019 to 3,786 last month.
Nassau County has set aside $1 million in federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for food banks to collect, distribute and purchase food. The County has worked with school districts and community stakeholders to identify families in need and ensure they’re made aware of food distributions. In addition to providing families with over a week’s worth of healthy food, the County also provided distribution attendees with multi-lingual ’Know Your Rights’ flyers and information about the 2020 Census. Nassau County has also built food assistance into the COVID-19 testing process by providing residents tested at County testing facilities with a free box of food supplies.
In partnership with Long Island Cares, Nassau continues to provide food assistance to Veterans through the Nassau "Vetmart". Drive-through services for Veterans in need and their families are available Monday through Friday 9am -12am. Residents can call (516) 572-6526 to learn more.
PHOTO CAPTION: Nassau County Executive Laura Curran with a volunteer at the County’s food distribution site in Long Beach.