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Mostly Cloudy Honor Harry Chapin’s legacy with action to end hunger
If you compiled the names of the most impactful Long Islanders in our history, you’d surely start off with the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Walt Whitman and Marie Colvin — and in my estimation, Harry Chapin is a fitting fourth candidate to complete a cross-cultural Mount Rushmore of great Long Islanders.
In just nine years as a recording artist, Chapin released 12 albums that embodied his distinctive style as a musical storyteller. Thanks to timeless melodies and stirring lyrics that vividly told stories of everyday life, songs like “Taxi,” “W.O.L.D.,” “Circle,” “Sequel” and, of course, “Cat’s in the Cradle” became embedded in the soundtracks of our lives in the 1970s, and have endured in the decades since.
Using his remarkable gifts, Chapin also pursued a philanthropic calling: a mission to eradicate hunger, in the United States in particular.
As one of the world’s highest-paid entertainers at the time, he gave generously to charitable causes, hosted numerous benefit concerts, and used his platform as a springboard for advocacy. He was involved in launching World Hunger Year (now known as WhyHunger) in 1975, and establishing the Presidential Commission on World Hunger during the Carter administration. But the food bank that now bears his name is perhaps his greatest innovation. When Chapin launched Long Island Cares in 1980, he created Long Island’s first food bank, and in doing so revolutionized our regional approach to addressing food insecurity and hunger.
In 2021, Long Island Cares distributed 14 million pounds of food — the equivalent of 11.5 million meals — and it now has a half-dozen brick-and-mortar storefront locations across the Island. The agency was instrumental in addressing crises like Superstorm Sandy and the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. And because no member of a family — included the four-legged and feathered ones — is spared from hunger, the seventh location, Baxter’s Pet Pantry, is dedicated to collecting and distributing pet food and supplies to families in need.
The shock of his sudden, untimely death reverberated through the park on that summer evening, and through our society for years afterward. He would be cited as an inspiration for endeavors like USA for Africa and Live Aid, and countless memorial awards, theaters and humanitarian events would be named in his honor.
Neighboring municipalities like Suffolk County have declared July 16 Harry Chapin Day in honor of all he achieved in just 38 years. In Nassau County, I continue to pursue legislation I filed last year to establish a Harry Chapin Day of our own. While there has been no action by the legislative majority to date, I will never lose hope, or lose sight of the important mission in front of us.
Rather than wait for the gears of government to turn, I decided to immediately implement one of the tenets of my proposed legislation — after all, Chapin was the man who said, “When in doubt, do something!” Starting on July 16, my office will hold its second annual summer food drive, to benefit Long Island Cares and draw renewed attention to Chapin’s legacy.
Among the many lessons of the past several years, we have all been confronted with the hard truth that far more of our neighbors struggle silently with food insecurity than we ever knew.
If you would like to support this endeavor, you can make a contribution of nonperishable goods at the Plainview-Old Bethpage and Syosset libraries and Plainview’s Trio Hardware, or donate directly to Long Island Cares, through Aug. 16. Call my office, at (516) 571-6216, or email adrucker@nassaucountyny.gov, if you have any questions.
In Harry’s words again, “We all have the potential to move the world, and the world is ready to be moved.” This summer, as Nassau County residents and Long Islanders, let’s unite to move the world to a better and more humane place.
Arnold W. Drucker has represented Nassau County’s 16th Legislative District since 2016.
