HEMPSTEAD: Long Island Council of Churches (LICC) receives $27,000 grant from the Long Island Community Foundation for Freeport Emergency Food Center.
The Long Island Community Foundation (LICF) awarded a $27,000 grant to help the LICC feed individuals and families in crisis in Nassau County. The LICC, our region's largest ecumenical and interfaith organization, operates an emergency food center located at 450 North Main Street in Freeport. The Long Island Community Foundation's emergency grant came in response to a Nassau County Department of Social Services (DSS) 21% cut in a 30-year continuous contract with the 42-year-old faith-based emergency food and social service agency. Thirty years ago Nassau DSS asked the LICC to set up and operate programs to feed and provide essential social services to poverty-stricken Nassau residents. The contract has not been increased a cent in the intervening 30 years, while these programs now serve four times as many vulnerable Nassau residents. Before the 21% cut, the contract covered less than half the costs to operate the programs. This year the County cut the contract by $27,000.
"We are exceedingly grateful for this emergency food grant," said Rev. Tom Goodhue, the LICC's Executive Director. "It will allow us to keep the Freeport Food Center open and, together with other grants, will enable us to continue serving hungry Nassau County residents for the rest of this year. It buys us much-needed time to seek new donors.
At the height of the Great Recession the Freeport emergency food center was feeding as many 1,638 guests a month. Last year it averaged 1,253 guests per month. This year the center is frequently running low on food because funds are not sufficient to buy food the guests need.
Freeport Food Center Manager, Walter Merna, noted, "We feed between 1,200 and 1,600 a month through this program. Without this grant, we were almost certain we would have to close the emergency food center before the end of the summer."
The LICC unites diverse Christians to work together to serve people in need on Long Island and promotes understanding between Christians and non-Christians. Through partnerships with several hundred congregations and more than 50 public and private health and social service agencies the LICC provides emergency food, housing, medical assistance, transportation assistance, chaplaincy services in the jails, disaster relief, advocacy and education for a wide range of social issues including affordable housing, adequate health care, the environment, social, racial and gender equality, anti-poverty and anti-bias programs, prison reform, substance abuse and domestic violence programs.
For further information, please contact the Rev. Tom Goodhue, LICC executive director, at 516-565-0290, ext. 206 or e-mail him at: tomgoodhue@optonline.net.
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