Funded by United Way of Long Island and administered by Long Island Cares, "Kids United Against Hunger" provides young people an opportunity to volunteer at The Harry Chapin Food Bank in Hauppauge, assisting in sorting food, personal care items, household supplies, pet food, and school supplies, which are then delivered to Long Island Cares' network of 560 community-based member agencies.
Programs are operated monthly on Saturday mornings and during their 3 ½ hour visit to Long Island Cares, students participate in a Hunger 101 Workshop, and are provided with an orientation to Long Island Cares, participate in a group food sorting activity and find out how the food reaches those in need. Group sizes can range from 20-25 children (ages 7 to 14) and adult chaperones.
The Hunger 101 workshop is highly interactive. Each participant becomes a person suffering from hunger through a series of exercises, facing the challenge of providing nutritious meals for their family. They must budget their money and use the limited resources available to people in need of emergency food. Participants must deal with government agencies, private charities, community members, and issues such as discrimination, poverty, and illiteracy. In this way, Hunger 101 enables participants to walk in the shoes of a person in need of food and experience situations common to those at-risk of hunger.
The role play is followed by a discussion that allows participants to talk about feelings they experienced during the activity and issues relevant to the problems they faced. Short and long-term strategies to alleviate poverty and hunger are addressed.
After the completion of the educational workshop, participants will assist with a community service project in the Long Island Cares warehouse.
Program dates for the remainder of 2013 are:
- August 24th
- September 14th
- October 26th
- November 16th
- December 14th.
| For more information on how to get involved in the “Kids United Against Hunger” experience contact Christine Brown at Long Island Cares at (631) 582-3663, ext.120 or email at cbrown@licares.org. |
In partnership with:
