A reflection on the past year - Discussion & Thoughts 2009

Thinking back on 2009, Long Island Food Not Bombs did a lot! It was a year of community solidarity. As friends, as neighbors, as individuals, we all struggled against the hardships forced onto us by the recession. But as a community we were able to overcome them. And with that in mind we invite you to glance over some of our achievements in the past year.

2009 was the year of our largest food share ever, the Thanksgiving Bonanza. On that day a feast was shared with everyone; on plates covered with delicious hot vegan meals, and in the thousands of bags of groceries taken home by neighborhood families. On that same day we also distributed thousands of pounds of clothing, books and other necessities. There were many highlights but the greatest was when we shared over 10,000 pounds of food in less than half an hour.

For the holidays we did something similar but with the focus on toys. Rolling up to our food shares with dozens of cars filled, beyond capacity, with presents we were able to share holiday toys with everyone that joined us. We were able to do this because hundreds of people participated by helping us collect and organize everything we got. Community participation is the greatest thing about Long Island Food Not Bombs. Everyone can get involved!

Last year we had a community gardening project in Mirshel Park, we created a new chapter in Farmingville and we started our incredible community literary zine - “As of yet, [Unnamed]”. We were able to do amazing things like this because of the involvement of people like you. So as you read on please keep in mind that food not bombs isn’t just a handful of activists. It’s community solidarity and it’s continually being expanded on, it’s community solidarity that relies on your participation.

Thanks for the great year,
xoxo Long Island Food Not Bombs.