Thursday, October 1, 2026
As a 17-year-old volunteering at the Manhattan VA hospital in New York City, Long Beach resident Larry Feldman knew he would spend his life helping others.
Now 76, his passion stems back to his 45-year career working in the New York State Department of Education as a teacher for the deaf. He served as the director for Hearing Education Services from 1999 to 2005. After that, Feldman headed a program at the Lexington Center for the Deaf, in Queens — the organization’s New Jersey operation, placing deaf adults in part-time and full-time jobs.
In 1985, Feldman interpreted for Prince at a free concert he played for students with disabilities on behalf of the state board of education. He also interpreted for Ed Koch, mayor of New York City during the 1980s, at his awards ceremonies.
“I really loved my job a great deal,” Feldman said.
After fully retiring in 2017, Feldman decided to take volunteering more seriously. He now spends at least five days a week working as a delivery driver and volunteer for several community organizations.
Fluid at times, most of Feldman’s weeks begin Monday at 7:30 a.m., at Saint Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Oceanside. Feldman goes on behalf of The Long Beach Soup Kitchen, always volunteering to assist in the operation run by Island Harvest Food Bank, which delivers pallets of food for 15 community organizations. “It must be fairly organized and distributed,” he said. “You don’t want to have people running in and just grabbing things off the pallet.”
When the previous volunteer in charge stepped away several years ago, Feldman stepped up. “They asked for a volunteer,” Feldman said. “Everybody else stepped back, and I was the only one standing.”
By 8 a.m. that same day, Feldman drives his Long Beach Soup Kitchen van to Trader Joe’s, picking up both perishable and nonperishable items. He repeats the entire process again on Thursday. During the week, you can find Feldman fulfilling other odd jobs, repurposing food between the soup kitchen and Saint Mary’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry — located on Monroe and Park — and other organizations in his network. He also picks up loaves of bread for St. Mary’s from Cobs Bread, in Oceanside.
Outside of picking up food items, Feldman has established a community network in Long Beach, collecting unwanted clothing and furniture. He noted the collected clothing is redistributed to other agencies, including St. Mary’s. “Some of my neighbors drop off clothing at my co-op,” Feldman said. “It all started as a small network and just spread from there.”
Rob Blau, president of Long Beach Soup Kitchen, said that Feldman is willing to do the job that most people can’t or won’t do. Blau noted Feldman’s willingness to do the heavy lifting gives the soup kitchen staff more time and flexibility to prepare meals for the community.
“Larry is a tremendous asset to our community and other communities on Long Island,” Blau said. “We are grateful for everything he does.”
When he’s not volunteering, you can find Feldman enjoying his 60-year hobby — surfing — with a group of friends. When asked how he continues to surf at an older age, he quipped back, “When I go in the water, they don’t ask me for a birth certificate.”
