Lynbrook-based To Tie-Dye for Clothing works with Helping Hand Rescue Mission to fight hunger

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To Tie-Dye for Clothing, a Lynbrook-based small business, partnered with the Helping Hand Rescue Mission of Huntington Station this October to raise money for food-insecure households in recognition this month’s designation as Tackling Hunger Month.

As the holiday season approaches, food insecurity affects over 97,000 people in Nassau County, according to a 2022 study by Feeding America, a nonprofit network of food banks across the country. That was what motivated Lynbrook resident Marion Schwaner, the founder of To Tie-Dye For Clothing, to take a stand.

TTDFC specializes in creating colorful clothing and merchandise for children, adults and pets. Until the end of the month, the business is selling limited-edition tie-dyed shirts sporting the Helping Hand Rescue Mission’s slogan, “Love, Serve, Give.”

Schwaner became a tie-dye entrepreneur four years ago, after leaving New York City and setting aside her career in public relations to return to Lynbrook, her hometown, during the coronavirus pandemic.

“At first I started doing orders for friends and family, and then it grew into doing wholesale orders for local boutiques,” she recalled. Local schools, businesses and aspiring artists became her clients as well.

“I was also teaching classes at different libraries,” Schwaner said. “I was getting school superintendents’ permission to use their mascot logo on face masks — it was four schools: Massapequa, Lynbrook, Oceanside and Malverne.”

The popularity of Schwaner’s clothing caught the attention of Theresa Caputo, star of the reality TV show “Long Island Medium,” and other local influencers, which led to collaborations that shaped her business.

“I’ve always been creative my entire life,” Schwaner said. “I really enjoy creating different things for people that are handmade, one of a kind.”

She has partnered with charities to create limited-edition products for fundraisers, supporting causes such as bullying prevention, domestic violence awareness, and breast cancer.

“Every October I do this,” Schwaner said. “I pick a charity where I would like to give money and awareness.”

This year she is working to help relieve food insecurity on Long Island. Many area families are unsure of where their next meal will come from as a result of poverty and unaffordable housing, according to Feeding America’s 2024 Elevating Voices: Insights Report.

“With rising costs, it’s hard for a lot of people just to eat on a day-to-day basis,” Schwaner said.

Helping Hand has helped people in need for almost 60 years, providing essential services and access to food, clothing and household supplies. The charity also sustains food pantries and community kitchens that support over 1,000 Long Island families.

The Rev. Kimberly Gaines-Gambino, president of the mission, has been involved with it since childhood.

“My parents started the organization,” Gaines-Gambino said. “They started it as a place to provide food, clothing, household goods, holiday support and other needs, like housing referrals.”

Helping Hand currently serves about 250 families a week, and the need for its services has grown since 2020.

“We are working hard to meet the increased needs of the families since the pandemic,” Gaines-Gambino said. “The rising cost of food is challenging, but we’re there every day.”

“We need actual food donations at the mission or funds to purchase food,” she explained. “There are people struggling to feed their families. They’re working hard, but with the rising cost of rent, the rising cost of utilities — everything is more expensive right now.

“Food is the greatest need,” she continued. “To be able to help people with food is one of the most important things that we can do.”

Helping Hand offers programs that provide extra support during the holiday season. “We have a program called ‘Fill a box, feed a family for Thanksgiving,’” Gaines-Gambino said. “The box contains enough for a family to have a Thanksgiving meal.”

The mission’s efforts to increase food availability also include a new community kitchen in Huntington Station in which families who don’t have access to stoves, ovens and other cooking appliances can cook and eat.

“We’re building this community kitchen that will provide a home-like space for people to come and eat, where we can prepare and serve meals,” Gaines-Gambino said.

“We’ve seen so much growth in the number of people that not only have food insecurity, but they don’t have a place to cook,” she said. “Not just homeless people, but people who are renting that don’t have access to a kitchen — they don’t get to cook food.”

Helping Hand’s community outreach is made possible by donations from community members and local businesses, from fresh produce from Whole Foods to harvests from local gardeners. All celebrated World Food Day on Oct. 16.

“We had our regular pantry distribution, but we had an extra abundance of fresh produce, and people brought donations of non-perishable foods,” Gaines-Gambino said. “When people left with their bags full, they were full and overflowing.”

To learn about food scarcity on Long Island, To Tie-Dye for Clothing and the Helping Hand Rescue Mission, go to ToTieDyeForClothing.com or HHRM.org.