Long Island Couple's Mission: Tackle Hunger, One Box Of Food At A Time

LYNBROOK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - With a growing need for food, something special is happening inside one Long Island home.

Thousands of donations from strangers are being collected to help hungry families and children.

"There's a lot of love in these boxes," said Rob Hallam.

"Everybody wants to do something to help," said Mary Hallam.

Behind the closed doors of their Long Island home, from floor to ceiling, donations have poured in.

Rob and Mary Hallam were volunteering at their Malverne church Super Bowl Sunday eight years ago when Rob first felt a calling.

"Felt great. Felt energized. And Mary said 'Listen, put out a box, and I'll put in a can of tuna fish in there to get you started.'"

Rob's passion was so contagious that customers, contractors, architects at his employer Nassau Door and Window joined others on a volunteer mission to help the hungry.

"It's a serious situation," Rob said.

So serious that a hunger forum was convened.

"No one would imagine that in a community where we have some of the wealthiest zip codes in the country, one out of every ten Long Islanders is struggling with food insecurity," said Randi Shubin Dresner of Long Island Harvest Food Bank.

"We try get meals. Complete meals. But I always think of the kids, I have to have a lot of peanut butter, Pop Tarts," said Feed the Hungry volunteer Mary Hallam.

On "Move the Food" day, 100 volunteers from surrounding communities will stand in assembly line fashion to pass the boxes, pack, caravan and unload.

In the Freeport food pantry, part of Long Island Council of Churches - Yolanda Murray and staff are counting the days until delivery.

"Those are the people we call our angels," Murray said. "We feed over 1,000 people a month. Six hundred families."

In Hallam's first year, he collected 987 items. Last year? Eighteen thousand.

"It makes you feel so good inside because this is what we're doing," Rob said.

Volunteers making a real difference in Nassau County.

This year's "Move the Food" day is Saturday, March 16.

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