Long Island charity aims to give away 14,000 turkeys for the holidays

LONG ISLAND - A record number of donations is expected at the Island Harvest annual Bethpage Turkey Drive. And before noon there were already more than 2,000 turkeys - not to mention the non-perishables being unloaded by the bag and even carton.

And this year more than ever before, Long Islanders can use the extra help. Island Harvest has helped 400,000 people since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are helping 100% more people just since March than we did in all of last year,” said president and CEO Randi Shubin Dresner with Island Harvest Food Bank. “There are people on food lines that have never been on food lines before.”

The goal is to distribute 14,000 turkeys between now and December.

Trucks are being packed and turkeys and trimmings are going out as quickly as they come in. They’ll be distributed all across Long Island to various agencies that are part of the Island Harvest network to get food into the community.