Long Island Cares unveils statue of late singer/songwriter Harry Chapin

Late singer-songwriter Harry Chapin was honored Friday by the organization he created over 40 years ago.

News 12 Staff

Jul 15, 2022, 9:42 PM

Updated 882 days ago

Share:

Late singer-songwriter Harry Chapin was honored Friday by the organization he created over 40 years ago.
Long Island Cares Harry Chapin Food Bank unveiled a bust of the singer at its headquarters in Hauppauge.
Chapin's family was at the ceremony to see the statue unveiled.
"He never wanted to be alienated by the sort of superhuman qualities that he did own - an unnatural energy and an unnatural drive," says Harry Chapin's son, Josh Chapin. "He was super intelligent, but at the same time the way he connected with people was not about that. It was about hard work and being there and experiential stuff."
The CEO of Long Island Cares says Chapin's organization is more important than ever.
"What we're seeing at our six satellite locations is a 50% increase in the number of people from June to July," Paule Pachter says. "In May, it was a 35% increase, so inflation is really impacting a lot of Long Island families - and in many ways these are families who are working."
Organizers says many of the working families needing food have more than one job.
Susan Bahary was Harry Chapin's neighbor on Long Island and created the bust. She says she had a specific reason for the way she designed the statue.
"I have him looking up because I think he was always looking to bring humanity to a higher place," Bahary says.
Long Island Cares also created a commemorative brick-lined Chapin Legacy Walkway to celebrate what would have been his 80th birthday.
Saturday marks the 41st anniversary of Harry Chapin's death. He was killed in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway near Exit 40 in Jericho while on his way to perform a free concert at Eisenhower Park.