More than 64,000 Long Island households seek food assistance every week.
39% of members of those households seeking assistance have children under 18 years old (10% age 0-5).
63% of those households have incomes below the federal poverty level.
More than 36% of those households report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities, rent or mortgage, medicine or medical care, transportation or car..
81% of food pantry clients are US citizens and 73% of soup kitchen clients are US Citizens.
70% of pantries and 59% of kitchens are run by faith-based agencies, 56% of which and 57% of which respectively, have no paid staff at all.
The number of households seeking food assistance continues to increase steadily.