Island Harvest starts program to help put food on tables as lines at food bank grow
The nonprofit says food insecurity had hit the unemployed especially hard.
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Island Harvest says it started a new program to help people put food on the table, as lines at the food bank are longer.
The nonprofit says food insecurity has hit the unemployed especially hard.
Victor White, from Hempstead, says he struggled to break that cycle.
"It was hard, it's hard out here. It was hard to come across it every day,” said White.
Island Harvest recognized this need and created a new program to address the problem. Its workforce development program teaches people new skills and helps them transition from uncertainty to stability.
"They taught me the logistics of a warehouse. They taught me how to operate a forklift,” said White.
To help people under skilled and underemployed move toward food security, the food bank's new "Workforce Skills Development Institute" helps them prepare for a job interview, teaches computer skills, and warehousing and inventory control.
"It's more of the tools we can give people that's going to make the difference,” said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest.
After an eight-week program, students graduate with six certifications.
White is one of 60 program graduates.
"They help put me in a position to feed my family, so now I would like to help other people, put them in a position to feed their families,” he said.
To learn more about the Workforce Skills Development Institute at Island Harvest, you can click here.
