FEBRUARY 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 21
Ever since it was founded in 1980 as the first food
bank on Long Island by the late Grammy-winning
singer-songwriter and social activist Harry Chapin
and his wife, Sandy Chapin, Long Island Cares has
been helping feed the hungry.
Paule Pachter, who has served as its CEO since
2008, recently spoke with us about the organization’s
mission, what makes it unique, how it uses
technology, the challenges it’s facing, and more.
Q: Are you planning any special event or events to
mark the organization’s 40th anniversary?
A: We’re going to be having our 40th anniversary
fundraising dinner on March 12 at the Heritage
Club at Bethpage State Park. All of the events we
do this year ... are aligned with our 40th anniversary.
Q: What is the mission of Long Island Cares?
A: The overall mission of Long Island Cares is
to end hunger on Long Island by mobilizing and
coordinating all the available resources we have,
with our member agencies and local and state
government, to really address the needs of people
who are hungry and food insecure.
Q: What makes Long Island Cares unique?
A: In addition to distributing emergency food to
580 community-based member agencies, we provide
career counseling, we provide job placement for
veterans, and we try to provide internship-type
programs for single women and other people who are
struggling in an effort to lift them up out of poverty.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: The best part of my job is really meeting with
the organizations that we support, visiting the soup
kitchens and the food pantries and the daycare
programs, to get to meet the staff and the volunteers
who are actually on the frontlines in assisting people
who are hungry and food insecure.
Long Island Cares
Q: How did you get started in the work that you do?
A: I am a licensed social worker and I’ve had 40
years of experience working in the nonprofit sector
right here on Long Island. I was attracted to Long
Island Cares not only because of its mission and the
good reputation it had, but because I was very, very
familiar with Harry Chapin.
Q: What is the biggest challenge of your job and
how have you worked to overcome that challenge?
A: I think the biggest challenge that we have is
raising enough money to continue to support the
expansion of the organization. And the challenge to
that is that there are so many nonprofits on Long
Island that are doing good work and we have limited
resources in terms of corporate support, foundation
support, government support.
Q: Since the changes that were made in the U.S.
tax law affecting charitable donations, have you
seen any decline in donations?
A: Fortunately not. Actually we closed out 2019 and
it was probably our most successful year since 2008
regarding fundraising. But although we continue
to increase the number of donors we have, we are
seeing in certain cases, people giving less – not much
less, but less.
Q: How do you use technology to accomplish
your mission?
A: First of all, we are heading to becoming a
paperless organization. Number two, we rely very
heavily on social media to get our message out.
Technology has been critical in allowing us to
expand our programs.
Q: Has social media helped Long Island Cares get
more donations from outside the area?
A: Yes. We have seen an uptick in the number of
donations coming in from places other than New
York. And, yes, social media has played a role in
that. But also, Harry had a very big fan base of loyal
followers.
Q: How have things changed at your organization
since Long Island Cares started?
A: When I came here in 2008, we were one
location: 10 Davids Drive in Hauppauge. Now,
we’re seven locations, with satellite centers in
Freeport, Huntington, Hampton Bays and two in
Lindenhurst, in addition to our distribution hub in
the Hamptons and our facility here in Hauppauge.
The other thing, in the last 12 years, is that our
budget has gone from $8.5 million to $19 million.
Q: Are there new initiatives or programs at your
organization that you can tell us about?
A: We just this past December opened up the very
first freestanding pet pantry. It’s called Baxter’s Pet
Pantry. It’s in Lindenhurst and it provides free pet
food and pet products to families who are struggling
with food insecurity, but also have a dog, a cat, a fish,
whatever. On March 1, we’re going to open up our
new center in Hampton Bays.
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Paule Pachter, CEO of Long Island Cares
Lindenhurst Annex which features a free
standing pet pantry (1st of its kind in the
nation) and our retail rescue center
Volunteers sorting and packing in our
main warehouse located in Hauppauge
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