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LONG ISLAND - As food insecurity surges 58% across Long Island, Island Harvest Food Bank and Bethpage Federal Credit Union broke records during their 16th annual turkey drive, collecting over 5,000 turkeys along with trimmings to ensure families in need can enjoy a warm Thanksgiving meal.
Friday's event surpassed last year's total of 4,500 turkeys by midday.
The collected donations will be distributed through churches, synagogues, and community organizations across Long Island, with the help of over 100 volunteers.
The drive is part of an effort to fight the rising number of food insecure people on Long Island.
"We have some of the wealthiest zip codes in the country, and yet we have 200,000 people struggling to put food on the table," said Island Harvest’s President and CEO, Randi Shubin Dresner.