Ep 86: Ordinary Heroes with Bernie Furshpan and guest Paul Pachter on hmTv

Episode 86 – Ordinary Heroes: Paul Pachter on Fighting Hunger & Carrying Harry Chapin’s Legacy

In this inspiring episode, Bernie Furshpan sits down with Paul Pachter, President & CEO of Long Island Cares – The Harry Chapin Regional Food Bank. From their shared Brooklyn roots and memories of Jan’s legendary “Kitchen Sink” sundae to the sobering reality that 280,000 Long Islanders—including 55,000 children—are food-insecure, Paul traces how rock-icon-turned-activist Harry Chapin transformed a regional crisis into a movement for dignity and self-sufficiency.

Key moments you’ll hear:

• Hunger vs. food insecurity – why language shapes solutions.
• The story behind Chapin’s 1980 founding of Long Island Cares and its growth to nine locations distributing 16 million pounds of food annually.
• Innovative programs—from Baxter’s Pet Pantry for family pets to a Center for Community Engagement—that redefine what a food bank can be.
• How corporate partners and 2,500+ volunteers turn compassion into $10 million of yearly impact.
• Why today’s economic pressures keep demand rising—and how you can help.
• Paul’s personal mission to keep Harry Chapin’s humanitarian flame alive, plus a shared call with HMTC to fight antisemitism and online hate.

Whether you’re passionate about social justice, volunteerism, or simply love a good Brooklyn nostalgia trip, this conversation proves that ordinary people can tackle extraordinary challenges—and that every can, dollar, or hour donated makes a hero’s difference. Tune in, be inspired, and find out how to join the fight against hunger right in your own backyard.

Transcript

Bernie Furshpan: Hello and welcome to Ordinary Heroes on hmTv at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center. I’m your host, Bernie Furshpan, and today I have a very, very special guest from an organization everybody on Long Island knows—Long Island Cares. Joining me is its President and CEO, Paul Pachter. Paul, thanks so much for coming on.

Paul Pachter: My pleasure, Bernie—great to be here.

Bernie: You and I share a hometown, right? You grew up in Brooklyn too.

Paul: Absolutely. I lived there for 26 years, and Brooklyn is still in my heart. It was a wonderful place then and it’s a great place now. Brooklyn produces leaders—Bernie Sanders, “Cousin Brucie” Bruce Morrow, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to name just a few from my alma mater, James Madison High School.

Bernie: I went to Samuel J. Tilden High. Our claims to fame were the humorist Sam Levenson, Yankee great Willie Randolph, and—believe it or not—Reverend Al Sharpton, who was in my graduating class.

Paul: (laughs) That’s fantastic. I graduated with Andrew Silverstein—better known as Andrew Dice Clay. He was the drummer in the school jazz band! Brooklyn’s roster goes on: Harry Chapin, his brothers Tom and Steve, Barbra Streisand from Erasmus, and of course the falafel, knishes, and Jan’s Ice Cream on Flatbush. Remember tackling “the Kitchen Sink” sundae with ten friends?

Bernie: Oh yes—before we worried about sharing a spoon! After polishing that off we’d head to Loew’s Kings Theatre. Good times.

From Brooklyn roots to feeding Long Island

Bernie: Speaking of great things, you’re leading one. Long Island Cares fights hunger and food insecurity—terms we’re hearing more these days. What does “food insecurity” really mean?

Paul: Hunger conjures images of air-dropping rice in war-torn regions. In America we talk about food insecurity: 51 million people who struggle to put nutritious meals on the table every day. On Long Island that’s about 280 000 people—roughly 3.2 percent of our neighbors—including 55 000 children.

Bernie: Staggering numbers for such a wealthy region.

Paul: Exactly. And the face of need has changed. Forty percent of clients at community food pantries are working families holding two or three jobs. Long Island Cares partners with more than 350 local agencies—mostly food pantries but also day-care centers, senior programs, and veterans’ groups—to get food and funding where it’s needed.

Root causes and the Chapin legacy

Bernie: What drives food insecurity here?

Paul: A mix of unemployment, underemployment, high housing and healthcare costs, aging, immigration status—you name it. Harry Chapin saw that clearly when he founded Long Island Cares in 1980. He wanted not only to feed families but help them toward self-sufficiency: jobs, affordable housing, access to entitlements.

Bernie: Give us the origin story.

Paul: Harry met with Governor Hugh Carey, who challenged him: “Get Nassau and Suffolk Counties to pony up $25 000 each and I’ll match it and give you space.” Harry did, and Long Island Cares opened on the grounds of Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center. Today our 35 000-square-foot Hop Hog headquarters and nine satellite sites distribute more than 16 million pounds of food a year.

Carrying the torch

Bernie: You’ve led the organization for 17 years. Administration can be a headache—what keeps you energized?

Paul: Two jobs: run Long Island Cares with my amazing team, and honor Harry’s legacy. He’s been gone 45 years, but explaining who he was to the next generation is a joy.

Bernie: His death shook Long Island. Remind listeners what happened.

Paul: July 16, 1981. On his way from Huntington Bay to a label meeting in Manhattan, his car was struck by a tractor-trailer on the LIE and caught fire. He died later that day at Nassau University Medical Center. He was just 38.

Programs, pets, and fundraising

Bernie: What signature events keep the mission moving?

Paul: An annual charity golf outing, small donor-hosted gatherings, and our “Paws Walk” to support Baxter’s Pet Pantry. During the 2009 recession families told us they couldn’t feed their pets, so we opened the nation’s first freestanding pet-food pantry—now replicated nationwide. Corporate partners like Petco and PetSmart, plus donors, help us raise about $10 million annually.

Volunteers—the ordinary heroes

Bernie: How big is your volunteer army?

Paul: Over 2 500. We have “super-volunteers” in the warehouse three days a week sorting and repacking food, others on our satellite sites or at special events. Corporate teams—from Bank of America to PSEG Long Island—spend service days with us, and many leave shocked by the scale of need.

Trends and challenges ahead

Bernie: Is food insecurity improving since COVID?

Paul: Unfortunately not. During the pandemic we saw a 74 percent spike. We hoped numbers would fall when things reopened, but economic pressures—housing, healthcare, inflation—have kept demand up about 30 percent above pre-COVID levels. Some pantries report 50 percent more clients than a year ago. I don’t see it easing soon.

Shared fight against hate

Bernie: I notice the blue square pin on your lapel—a show of solidarity against antisemitism. Thank you.

Paul: I’m Jewish; my grandparents came from Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. Rising antisemitism troubles me, and the Stand Up to Jewish Hate blue-square campaign resonated. Like HMTC, Long Island Cares depends on volunteers and education to build tolerance.

Bernie: Social media spreads hate faster than ever. Our job—yours with hunger, ours with Holocaust education—is to flood the zone with truth and empathy.

Paul: Exactly. And engaging young people—online and in person—is key.

Closing thoughts

Bernie: Paul, you’ve enlightened us about food insecurity, Harry Chapin’s vision, and the incredible work Long Island Cares does every day. Thank you for carrying the torch so brilliantly, and may your team continue to thrive.

Paul: Thank you, Bernie. It’s been an honor.

Bernie: And thanks to everyone listening in on our conversation. I’m Bernie Furshpan for hmTv and the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center. Until next time—be well, and keep being ordinary heroes.