The second Saturday in May is reserved for the country's biggest one-day food drive. And in 2024, Stamp Out Hunger has a goal to help collect half a million pounds of food donations for Island Harvest, as these local donations go right back to our communities.

Island Harvest says the need in both Nassau and Suffolk counties is great right now, as almost 1 in 10 people on the Island are dealing with food insecurity.

The nonprofit organization Feeding America says the problem is because of lingering inflation.

The food drive comes at a critical time for Island Harvest. The organization says it sees a surge in food donations around the holidays. Around summertime, though, the stocks deplete.

Island Harvest president Randi Shubin Dresner says, “We are gearing up right now for our summer feeding program. By the end of the summer, we expect to serve 125,000 meals to several thousand children across Long Island. These are children that would have nowhere else to go.”

Many programs that provide vulnerable children and families nourishing food end with the school year.

Stamp Out Hunger puts food right back on food pantry shelves, and helping out is easy.

Nonperishable food items are requested. Organizers encourage Long Islanders to go through cabinets to try and find food items to donate— things like boxed pasta, canned soup, instant oatmeal and cereal.

On Saturday, May 8, leave the items in a bag next to your mailbox for your letter carrier to collect. It will then be brought to a warehouse in Hauppauge for sorting before heading back to shelves to feed those in feed.