Volunteers with special needs help feed the hungry

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - Adults with special needs are helping the hungry on Long Island and they are doing it free of charge.

The volunteers are from Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities. The organization participates in Island Harvest's food recovery program. They pick up perfectly good food from stores that would've gone to waste.

Randi Shubin Dresner is the pesident & CEO of Island Harvest.

"Island Harvest rescues a couple million pounds of food from donors like Zorn's. It's a lot of food that would've ended up in a landfill," Dresner says.

It's a way for adult volunteers to help others in the community while learning important skills.   It's something volunteer Ronni Meyers looks forward to each week.

"It makes me feel good knowing I'm feeding the hungry," Meyers says.

The fresh food gets dropped off and is quickly divvied up for the clients at one of the agencies. There's a great need for outreach. According to recent statistics, 316,000 people on Long Island need food assistance.

Our need here is great all year long. Not only during the holidays," Alfonso Martinex, Dir. of Outreach at Holy Redeemer Church in Freeport says.

It's estimated 70,000 Long Islanders rely on feeding programs each week.