Long Island Cares rolls out new farmers market truck

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Fresh, locally grown produce may be more accessible at no cost to those facing food insecurity in Nassau and Suffolk counties.  This is thanks to a new, refrigerated customized truck that was funded by a $250,000 Bank of America grant. Long Island Cares unveiled the truck at the Hauppauge-based Harry Chapin Food Bank & Humanitarian Center on Thursday.

“We’re grateful to Bank of America for their continued support of our work,” Long Island Cares CEO Paule Pachter said in a news release about the supermarket-style truck. “This initiative to increase fresh produce to communities in need will allow our neighbors to increase healthy foods in their diets.”

With the truck, Long Island Cares expects to provide nearly 1 million pounds of food annually, with produce purchased from local and state-wide farms with private and state funding. The long-term plan is to deliver produce three to five days a week, with the goal of expanding the program to five days a week, including weekends.

“Bank of America is an amazing partner in our mission to serve the food insecure,” Long Island Cares’ Vice President for Programs & Community Services Jessica Rosati said in the news release. “Their ongoing support provides an open door to serving our neighbors in need.”

The roll out of the farmers market truck comes at a time when nonprofits are bracing for proposed federal cuts that could impact food banks and other organizations that help the food insecure. Those cuts coincide with a 30 percent rise in food insecurity, Pachter recently told LIBN. The impact of cuts to programs could  mean as many as 56,000 more people would face food insecurity.

Last year, Long Island Cares distributed more than 16 million pounds of food to more than 330 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior and veteran facilities, and Long Islanders experiencing homelessness.

“In partnership with Long Island Cares, Bank of America is working to improve the health of our community by providing Long Islanders’ access to fresh produce,” Jennifer Porti, community relations manager of Bank of America Long Island, said in the news release.

“Investing in hunger-relief efforts is vital as we help support Long Island Cares’ mission to fight food insecurity and ensure that vulnerable populations throughout Long Island have access to nutritious foods,” Porti said.

Bank of America partners with hunger-relief and basic-needs agencies that provide access to wraparound services and nutritious meals on Long Island.

The bank’s partnership with Long Island Cares to combat food insecurity in local communities spans more than a decade.

In 2020, Long Island Cares opened The Hunger Assistance & Humanitarian Center of the Hamptons in Hampton Bays with a $500,000 Bank of America grant. In its first year, Hampton Bays served more than 7,300 individuals, and in 2024 the number had jumped to more than 21,000.

An additional $200,000 grant from Bank of America helped Long Island Cares turn an emergency pandemic distribution site in Bethpage into a permanent annex. This location – The Harry Chapin Food Bank Essential Market – is modeled after a grocery store, enabling visitors to select food items based on their dietary needs in a supportive environment.