Wednesday, May 8, 2019
After over 80 years in business, the iconic Zorn’s of Bethpage marked the end of an era and the start of a new one with its Owner/President Merrill Zorn recently making brief remarks at a special ceremony after closing the doors of its historical location in anticipation of moving into its new store located directly next door that it is now currently opened, transitioning from its old building to its new in just a few short days after. The day after having closed its iconic store, Zorn’s of Bethpage made its last food donation from its historic location to Island Harvest, Long Island’s largest hunger relief organization, and The INN (The Interfaith Nutrition Network), an organization that provides a variety of essential services to assist individuals challenged by hunger, homelessness and profound poverty.
“As a longstanding business of over eight decades in the Long Island community, Zorn’s of Bethpage has always been committed to giving back from the food we serve to organizations like The INN and Island Harvest in support of hungry families,” said Ms. Zorn. “Donating the last of our food from our iconic store to The INN and Island Harvest was extra special for us as it assured that the food leaving our longstanding location was going toward making a difference in the lives of others, which coincides with what our charitable goal in giving has always been about. It is our plan to continue making food donations to these organizations and others as we begin our new exciting chapter at our new store.”
“Zorn’s of Bethpage has created many cherished memories and established great traditions for generations of Long Islanders, so it’s especially heartwarming for it to make its last donation to help its neighbors who may be struggling with hunger and food insecurity,” commented Randi Shubin Dresner, president & CEO, Island Harvest Food Bank. “Zorn’s of Bethpage has been a valued partner with us in the fight against hunger since our founding in 1992 and we wish it and their staff all the very best in their new location.”
“It was a beautiful gesture for Merrill Zorn and the iconic Zorn’s of Bethpage to make The INN one of the recipients of the final donation of food from the location it has worked out of for so many years,” said Jean Kelly, Executive Director of The INN. “We look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with Zorn’s of Bethpage, as it has helped support our goal of serving hungry and homeless Long Islanders by providing us with donations of its delicious food and other support for decades. We wish it lots of success in the next chapter of its journey.”
Trays of food, fresh milk, eggs, and perishable items were loaded into vans by Zorn’s of Bethpage staff and volunteers. Zorn’s of Bethpage has been donating food to The INN, Island Harvest and other organizations for over 25 years and will continue this effort at its new building and store.
With Zorn’s of Bethpage’s new store now opened there will be a special community open event and grand opening held in a few weeks with more details to come.
For more information about Zorn’s of Bethpage and its new store, please visit zornsofbethpage.com or call 516-731-5500.
About Island Harvest Food Bank
Island Harvest Food Bank is a leading hunger-relief organization that provides food and other resources to people in need. Always treating those it helps with dignity and respect, its mission is “to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island” through efficient food collection and distribution; enhanced hunger-awareness and nutrition-education programs; job training; and direct services targeted at children, senior citizens, veterans, and others at risk of food insecurity. As a result of Island Harvest Food Bank’s dynamic business model, more than 94% of expended resources go directly to programs and services that support more than 300,000 Long Islanders facing hunger. Island Harvest Food Bank is a lead agency in the region’s emergency response preparedness for food and product distribution and is a member of Feeding America®, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief charity. For five consecutive years, Island Harvest Food Bank has earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent nonprofit watchdog organization. Island Harvest Food Bank is among just 9% of the nonprofits rated by Charity Navigator to merit the four-star designation. More information about Island Harvest Food Bank programs and services as well how you can help, visit islandharvest.org.
About The INN
The INN was founded in 1983 as a single soup kitchen run by a small group of concerned volunteers. Working at a church in Hempstead, the volunteers discovered that not only were there large numbers of hungry people on Long Island, but that individuals working together could make a difference in their lives. What began as a tiny seed quickly grew as other communities discovered that hungry people existed in their community, too. As word spread of the success of the Hempstead soup kitchen, The INN became a magnet for individuals who wanted to help those who were hungry in their own communities. By sharing their knowledge, the volunteers started to form an interfaith network of soup kitchens to feed hungry Long Islanders. Soon after the Hempstead soup kitchen began operations, with others opened in Long Beach, Freeport and Central Islip. Each of these soup kitchens quickly filled a desperate need that existed in these communities. Today, The INN has grown to become the largest private social service agency of its kind on Long Island and is working model of how to unite the community to overcome the challenge of hunger and homelessness, here on Long Island. For more information about The INN, visit the-inn.org.
About Zorn’s
Zorn’s is Long Island’s favorite take out destination. Making great home-made food since 1940, the core quality of Zorn’s remains intact. In 1940, Peter Zorn opened his first retail store on Long Island. His vision was to offer wholesome, oven-ready meals using the freshest ingredients that busy families could take home with them, creating one of New York’s first take-out services. Zorn’s is renowned on Long Island for its all-natural poultry fresh from farm to kitchen. Now over seven decades and four generations later, Zorn’s is still family owned and operated and utilizes the same recipes and cooking methods used by its founder. These are the same traditions, recipes and cooking methods that still maintain Zorn’s high quality and consistency.
Pictured is a small portion of the amount of food items that Merrill Zorn, Owner of Zorn’s of Bethpage, recently donated to The INN and Island Harvest. The donation represents the final amount of food remaining from Ms. Zorn’s iconic legacy Zorn’s of Bethpage store location. Zorn’s of Bethpage will open a new location next-door to its old store soon.
Photo credit is courtesy of Zorn’s of Bethpage/ David Conn, Photographer. Zorn’s of Bethpage grants media permission to use photos.