Video of Long Island Cares volunteers being rude to shoppers surfaces online

The volunteers eventually got themselves thrown off private property for their actions.

Jan 6, 2023, 3:42 AM

Updated 720 days ago

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Long Island Cares says they are deeply troubled after a video of longtime volunteers taking a joke too far was posted online.
The volunteers eventually got themselves thrown off private property for their actions.
In the video, it shows a volunteer who calls himself “Sassy Santa," along with other volunteers dressed as elves.
They were asking for donations during the holiday season at a Lake Grove shopping center.
The volunteer can be heard in the video saying, “Oh, you trick me, I thought you were takin' out some money for the poor kids who are starving on Long Island.”
He can also be heard saying, “Come over here and give me something. I hope you get a stomachache.”
The behavior came as a shock to the Long Island Cares food bank because they tell News 12 they have worked with the volunteer in the video many times before.
Eventually the store asked “Sassy Santa” and his elves to pack up, but they didn’t do so immediately.
That led to a call to the police for the volunteers to leave.
Paule Pachter, president and CEO of Long Island Cares, told News 12 in a statement, “We wouldn’t want anyone to think that we don’t vet or value our neighbors who volunteer to assist the regional food bank in fulfilling our missing at a time when need continues to increase.”
Long Island Cares say they asked for the video to be taken down earlier Thursday, but it was still online as of 9 p.m.