Thursday was Hunger Action Day.

Island Harvest President Randi Shubin Dresner says the summer doldrums took a toll on their commitment to feed about 300,000 people across Long Island. "We really need support from the community to help us get through 12 months of the year," he says.

Help arrived Thursday in the form of MREs, or meals ready to eat. Suffolk County donated 39,000 MREs to Island Harvest to be used in the event of an emergency.

Although Island Harvest is thankful for the donation, it says it is still low on food, which is why it came up with a creative way to "grow its food supply." A garden behind the group's Hauppauge warehouse produces 5,000 pounds of food for Long Islanders who don't get fresh vegetables.

Island Harvest says it hopes that Long Islanders will consider making food donations now instead of waiting until Thanksgiving.