On Our Island: Charity, heroes, food, cleanup

Adventureland’s Helping Hands Foundation raises $400K

Adventureland held its 8th annual Helping Hands Foundation Friends & Family VIP event at its Farmingdale amusement park. With nearly 2,000 people attending to support the charity effort, the event raised $400,000 to help Long Islanders. Collectively, the foundation has raised over 2.1 million dollars from all VIP Nights since the start of the foundation.

The highlight of the evening was The Vivian and Tony Gentile Scholarship Fund awarding of 13 scholarships of $5,000 each to high school seniors that will be attending college as full-time students on Long Island this fall.

Since its founding in 2013, Helping Hands has raised over $1 million for Long Island charities, nonprofit organizations and worthy programs.

Congressman Suozzi honors 12 local police officers for heroism

Congressman Tom Suozzi hosted his 5th annual “Hometown Heroes” event at the Glen Cove Police Department, where he honored and thanked 12 law enforcement officers from across New York’s 3rd Congressional District who displayed exemplary heroism in the line of duty in service to our communities. During the ceremony, Suozzi shared how the exceptional work of each officer saved the lives of New Yorkers.

The officers recognized by Suozzi were from the Nassau County Police Department, three precincts in the New York City Police Department (105th, 109th, and 111th), and the Glen Cove Police Department. Suozzi presented each officer with a flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol, as well as a Congressional citation.

King Kullen supplier donates 1,800 pounds of food to LI Cares

King Kullen and UNFI–a natural, organic and specialty foods supplier–partnered together at the UNFI Grocery Merchandising Show to donate 1,862 pounds of food to Long Island Cares, Inc. – The Harry Chapin Food Bank.

King Kullen has a decades-long partnership with Long Island Cares. King Kullen and its sister company, Wild by Nature, weekly donate food from all their stores to help feed food-insecure Long Islanders. In addition, King Kullen’s Senior Vice President of Company Operations Tracey Cullen, sits on Long Island Cares’ board of directors.

“King Kullen is committed to supporting our neighbors in need. We are proud to partner with UNFI in donating products from their recent show,” Cullen shared. “King Kullen greatly values its partnership with Long Island Cares and through our weekly donations and committed support, we remain steadfast in our mission to help fight hunger across the communities we serve.”

Canon, Clean Earth Crew partner for Sunken Meadow Park cleanup

Canon U.S.A. continued its tradition of community service and environmental preservation during its annual Clean Earth Crew event at Sunken Meadow State Park. Canon employees and their family members signed up to volunteer their time collecting litter along trails and shoreline areas, removing debris and helping maintain one of Long Island’s most popular state parks.

Throughout the morning, volunteers spread out across the park, filling 12 bags of trash while cleaning the shoreline in addition to planting approximately 70 mums, painting four lifeguard stands and two barricades, cleaning and painting seven barbecues, and building seven new picnic tables. Their efforts helped improve the visual appeal of the park and contributed to a safer and healthier ecosystem for local wildlife and visitors alike.