Long Island Cares president Paule Pachter says he plans to retire

Long Island Cares — The Harry Chapin Food Bank president and CEO Paule Pachter has announced he will retire from the nonprofit next year after feeding Long Island families for 18 years.

Pachter, 71, said he felt it was the right time to pass the torch to a new leader after growing the food bank since 2008. He said he plans to stay on through the next year while searching for a successor and assisting with the transition.

The pantry serves 16 million pounds of food annually to about 318,000 Long Islanders, including 75,000 children, he said.

The Hauppauge-based food pantry, which was founded by singer Harry Chapin and his wife, Sandy, in 1980, now has nine locations and its budget has grown from $8.5 million to $41 million with a staff of 78 people, Pachter said.

"One of the proudest things I’ve done is keep Harry’s legacy in the front of people’s minds. Watching new people discover Harry is so rewarding for me," Pachter said. "It’s been a tremendous ride and I want to leave someone to lead a historic organization with enormous potential."

He said he is continuing to work with the national nonprofit group Feeding America during the transition. He said he is proud of expanding Long Island Cares with seven satellite locations, a mobile pantry and a pet pantry.

Pachter said he will continue to fight for food security and remain with Long Island Cares as president emeritus. His retirement comes as the federal budget calls for $300 billion in cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which serves more than 150,000 people on Long Island and 43 million nationwide, advocates said.

Long Island Cares often works in tandem with Long Island’s other largest food bank, Island Harvest, which provides 20 million pounds of food annually to more than 240,000 people in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

"Paule has been a dedicated advocate for people facing hunger on Long Island for a long time, and Island Harvest and I am grateful for his efforts all these years," Island Harvest CEO Randi Shubin Dresner said. "We both had one mission, similar missions and different approaches. We’re not going to end hunger working alone and we need to support our neighbors."

Elected officials and other partners praised Pachter’s efforts to address the ongoing hunger crisis on Long Island. He has worked with officials for the past two decades from both political parties in both counties.

"I have known Paule Pachter for many years, and throughout the years, Paule has made a difference in thousands of lives through his tireless work serving the most vulnerable of our society," Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said in a prepared statement. "His name has long been synonymous with caring and dedication to the cause. We wish Paule all the best in his retirement and will always work with his organization and continue to provide for those who are most in need."

"Paule devoted years of service feeding the hungry on Long Island," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a statement. "He made us consider food insecurity as a real issue that needed to be nurtured."

Harry Chapin Foundation executive director Mike Grayeb said Pachter has helped maintain Chapin’s legacy of activism and feeding the hungry.

"I have respect and admiration in increasing Harry’s impact across Long Island in so many ways. Paule is an innovator and a visionary," Grayeb said. "He did an amazing job of leveraging Harry’s legacy and telling Harry’s story to inspire others that ordinary people can make a difference."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.