Long Island is perhaps best known for having beautiful beaches with waterfront mansions. It is against this backdrop that its massive homeless population often goes overlooked. As of 2016, there were nearly 4,000 homeless people in Suffolk and Nassau counties. In addition, currently about seven percent of Long Island’s population lives below the federal poverty level.
I was first introduced to the Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN) in high school. The INN is a not-for-profit organization based on Long Island that serves the homeless. Until this volunteer experience, I had never truly appreciated the simple things in my life that I took for granted, such as eating dinner and turning on the heat.
The INN offers homeless emergency shelters, the largest soup kitchen on Long Island, and a clothing boutique. The organization serves over 70,000 meals per year and houses approximately 20 families nightly in their shelters.
To raise money for this cause, the INN hosted Rocktoberfest last week, a four-hour long event with live music, food, drinks, and raffles. The main item on the auction block was a guitar signed by Long Island’s own Billy Joel.
Our own CEO Eugene Sayan was recognized for his generosity and presented with an award on stage. Softheon was proud to support this event where 100% of the proceeds went to the INN. And as an Associate Product Manager, I feel proud to work for a company that cares about giving back to our community.
