Linda Breitstone, founder of Island Harvest and 'bright star,' dies at 73
Linda Breitstone started Island Harvest after noticing that a convenience store was trashing food that could be given to the needy. Credit: Island Harvest Food Bank
Linda Breitstone founded one of the region’s main hunger-relief organizations with food deliveries out of her station wagon, after noticing a business throwing away food while a nearby shelter struggled to find meals.
"She always saw the best in people, and when she saw a problem, she would always try and fix it," said her son, J.B. Breitstone, 40, of Massachusetts.
Breitstone, founder of Island Harvest Food Bank, died July 16 after a short battle with cancer with friends by her side, according to a statement from Island Harvest. She was 73.
Breitstone, who lived in the Princeville area of Hawaii but previously resided in Rockville Centre, is remembered as a mother whose determination drove her to start a grassroots effort in the early '90s that led to an organization that aims to give away roughly 20 million pounds of food in 2024. Island Harvest also offers workforce development training, nutritional education and other initiatives.
"If she believed in something, she was going to fight for it," said Randi Shubin Dresner, Island Harvest president and CEO. "And she was going to find the right way to move forward to find the solutions to whatever problems she uncovered."
Jill Bernstein, an Island Harvest board member and the organization’s vice chair, described Breitstone as a "bright star" who "brought us all together."
"This organization was her heart and soul, and she made it happen because she believed in the good in everyone, no matter where they came from or any background, and she understood that people needed to be fed and nourished," Bernstein said in a statement from Island Harvest.
Breitstone started the organization in 1992 after realizing that the manager of a 7-Eleven was trashing food that could likely be used elsewhere, family said.
"It seemed to be such a terrible waste," Breitstone is quoted as saying in a 1994 Newsday article.
Dismayed but driven, Breitstone began researching and found that she could safely and legally transport the food to those in need, said Shubin Dresner.
She went to the store manager, this time with a proposition to bring to the needy the food items likely to be discarded.
The manager said yes, Shubin Dresner said.
Breitstone, then a stay-at-home mother, took chicken salad and other sandwiches that she collected and brought them to a safe house in Rockville Centre — a watershed moment in the evolution of Island Harvest.
"From the chicken salad sandwiches that she picked up and delivered at that time to today where our goal is 20 million pounds of food this year, that’s . . . the growth of her legacy," said Shubin Dresner.
Born in Japan, Breitstone moved around for much of her childhood because her father was in the Air Force.
As a child, she developed a love of crystals that eventually led to her starting an online business selling crystals and stones called Crystal Woman.
She attended the University of Houston, where she studied business, later working as a flight attendant, and eventually made her way to Long Island, where she had her son.
J.B. Breitstone distinctly remembers tagging along with his mother after school as a child while she picked up food from bakeries and other places to take to homeless shelters.
"It was good experience for me, because I was always aware of how much hunger . . . there was out there," said her son.
Island Harvest continued to grow even after she left Long Island in the early 2000s, first to California, then to Oregon and finally Hawaii.
Her son said she continued to live a very spiritual life, with emphasis on meditation and being a force for good.
"She just always tried to spread positive feelings," said J.B. Breitstone.
Breitstone was cremated and a ceremony was held in Hawaii.
Education: Howard University
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.
Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation; New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting; Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
