On November 17th, 2021, over 45 students, faculty and staff joined together and prepared more than 1,000 pounds of food to be distributed to over 50 Families this holiday season.
As part of the RAM Program's Feed 50 Families initiative, Farmingdale's first institutional-wide food drive, participants from various academic departments- TRIO, CSTEP, EOP, Nexus Center, Campus Police, Human Resources, and many more- sought to collect and distribute food to Long Islanders in need.
Under the directive guide of Farmingdale and SUNY's civic engagement and Applied-Learning commitment, this event was more than a food drive but also an assertion of education.
"1 in 5 Long Islanders are experiencing food insecurity in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic", stated Community Relations Manager Billy Gonyou of Long Island Care's Food Bank. Founded by the late Harry Chapin, Long Island Cares, Inc. brings together all available resources for the benefit of the hungry and food insecure on Long Island.
As part of the event held on the Nov. 17th, participants not only prepared a Thanksgiving meal for each “adopted family,” but received the hard-hitting truth about hunger on Long Island.
"Food insecurity is among us all. It is even in our very own campus community... we will continue to host events like this, we will continue to make a commitment to our community so long as it is needed," Gonyou proclaimed.
