Musings: Helping hungry tests resolve
Volunteers put food in the vehicles as Long Island’s two regional food banks, Island Harvest Food Bank and Long Island Cares, join forces to offer supplemental emergency food assistance to federal workers facing food insecurity due to the federal shutdown in November. Credit: Rick Kopstein
After I retired as an English teacher, I volunteered with Island Harvest, one of Long Island’s leading hunger relief agencies, headed by Randi Shubin Dresner. She is a tireless advocate for this wonderful group.
I labored in the warehouses, in the main office in Mineola, and finally as an on-site organizer of directly delivering foodstuffs to church pantries and food banks. The latter position was most rewarding but came with some jolting trauma as I learned people directly helping the hungry and poor sometimes dramatically lost their patience.
At times, I had to step between parish volunteers and soup kitchen staff who vigorously vied for the goods we were distributing. Tempers flared, and I learned that brokering peace was a necessary skill.
Even Island Harvest volunteers have emotional limits, but that deterred almost no one. I learned that small traumas strengthened us.
— Hank Cierski, Port Jefferson Station
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