By
Rhoda AmonNEWSDAY
STAFF WRITER
October 17, 2002
After two decades of providing food for the needy and the homeless, Long Island Cares has found a home of its own.
The Island-wide charity, founded in 1980 by the late singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, moved last week into its first permanent home, the Harry Chapin Food Bank in Hauppauge.
Since the early 1980s the agency occupied "temporary" quarters on the grounds of the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in West Brentwood, but New York State needed the space for its own use and the agency required more space to serve the growing number of hungry on Long Island, said executive director Lynn Needelman.
The 35,000-square-foot facility will enable the food bank to expand its services to feed-the-hungry agencies all over Long Island, Needelman said. The number of agencies served has grown from 350 five years ago to 578 today, including soup kitchens, homeless shelters, day care centers, group homes for the mentally disabled and domestic violence shelters.
There's an increasing demand for food for working poor families "who are not making enough money to make ends meet," Needelman said.
"We now have the facilities for training people so they can rise out of poverty," said Michael Mannetta, director of design for the Spector Group of North Hills and a board member of Long Island Cares. Mannetta said he upgraded the facility to make it "uplifting and inspirational." Previously tucked away in several buildings, "Long Island Cares was Long Island's best-kept secret," he said.
The building at 10 Davids Dr., found last spring after a four-year search, provides 27,000 square feet of warehouse space [35,000 total square feet] and three bays for the trucks that deliver food daily as far as the East End.
The new facility will also enable Long Island Cares to expand its job training program, Needelman said. The program provides help in developing job skills and self-esteem for at-risk youth and young adults.
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