Dave Widmer, a co-chairman of the board at Island Harvest, has worked with Shubin Dresner for 10 years. He likened her to the conductor of an orchestra, praising her ability to coordinate the efforts of diverse entities — her staff, various food pantries and churches as well as government agencies and local communities — to work toward a common goal, “which is helping to fight hunger on Long Island,” said Widmer, a Huntington resident and the general manager of the Connoisseur Media Long Island Radio Group. “Island Harvest has really developed as a lead point on hunger on Long Island. A lot of that is due to Randi’s stewardship.”

Stuart Richner, the president of Richner Communications and a board member of Island Harvest, said, “Randi’s passion and drive for helping others is contagious. The strong team that she’s assembled and the relationships that she’s built have enabled Island Harvest to fulfill its mission of serving our neighbors in need.”

In what spare time she has, Shubin Dresner is an adjunct professor, having taught classes on nonprofit management, leadership and business development at L.I. University and C.W. Post, and currently teaching at Molloy College in Rockville Centre. She is also a member of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, Long Island Chapter, and the Women Economic Developers of Long Island.

She organizes student leadership programs in East Meadow schools, where she discusses hunger education with students. “As my children were growing up understanding about hunger, so were the kids in the community,” she said, “and it has hopefully continued that way, which has been a really nice thing.”

She added, “What I love also about my work is that my family can be involved in it. That’s important to me.”

For her dedication to her local community, and all of Long Island, the Herald honors Randi Shubin Dresner. We, too, are glad that her hand never went down.