Fifty members from Mather Hospital’s leadership team recently took part in the hospital’s second annual day of service to the community, volunteering with Coastal Steward Long Island (CSLI) at Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai and at Bethel Hobbs Community Farm in Centereach.
“Our day of service is Mather’s way of giving back to our community while engaging in activities that make us better leaders, team members, and neighbors,” said Executive Director Kevin McGeachy, who was part of the team at Coastal Steward.
Volunteers with CSLI worked at the Mt. Sinai Harbor shellfish facility and cleaned up Cedar Beach. The Coastal Steward team cleaned 80,000 oysters and collected 120 pounds of garbage.
CSLI is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to restoring and preserving Long Island’s coastline through education, raising public awareness, and community action. CSLI programs educate youth and local community groups in coastal environmental awareness through beach cleanups, shellfish population restoration, and citizen science.
Bethel Hobbs is an 11-acre farm that grows produce that will be shared with local food pantries and soup kitchens.
The Bethel Hobbs team from Mather harvested enough kale, collards, and onions to feed 100 families. The farm was the original homestead of James Hobbs and later taken over by his son Alfred Hobbs. When Alfred Hobbs passed away in 1996, he left the farm property to the Bethel AME Church in Setauket, where he was a member.
Friends of Hobbs Farm was formed in 2007. And in 2009, Hobbs Farm applied for and received its own independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. To this day, the cooperative gardening project 75,000 to 100,000 lbs. of fresh, organically grown produce to several local food pantries and soup kitchens.
Last year’s day of service was at a Habitat for Humanity home build in Mastic Beach and at Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck, a camp for individuals with disabilities, in Center Moriches.