Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Long Beach Soup Kitchen will kick off its third annual Juice Box Drive on Dec. 2, with a specific objective in mind.
“(Three thousand) juice boxes is the goal,” Jeanne Hoenig, the facility’s community outreach liaison, said in a statement.
The drive’s start date coincides with Giving Tuesday, a globally recognized day of generosity the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The annual celebration, launched in 2012, encourages individuals, businesses and organizations to give back to their communities with donations of money, time or resources.
Long Beach residents and visitors can drop off juice boxes at seven locations across the city through Dec. 22: Billy’s Beach Café, at 222 W. Park Ave.; Blacksmith’s Breads, 870 W. Beech St.; Bright Eye Beer Company, 50 W. Park Ave.; East End Pizza, 647 E. Park Ave.; Joyful Treasures, 48 Lido Blvd. in Point Lookout; the Long Beach Public Library, 111 W. Park Ave.; and Sorrento’s, 768 W. Beech St.
Five additional organizations are taking take part in this year’s donation effort: Active Life, in Long Beach, Beach Giving LBNY, Lancer Insurance Company, Lindell Elementary School and Sea Pointe Towers.
Lindell Elementary has partnered with the soup kitchen for several years. “If there was one takeaway I could impart on our students, it would be to understand the importance of supporting local community organizations,” Lindell social worker Rachel Lonergan wrote in an email.
Lonergan, who begins each school year by coordinating several food drives with Hoenig, explained that the school’s efforts are driven by the soup kitchen’s needs, rather than defaulting to collecting canned goods.
“I like to give whatever they need the most rather than just holding a canned food drive,” Lonergan wrote. “The Juice Box Drive is something they have been doing for a few years now, and if this is what they are asking for, then we will answer the call to meet that need.”
When it’s time to collect the donations, Lindell students from various classes have the chance to help soup kitchen volunteers with their pickup efforts. Lonergan described the opportunity as “a great way to teach students about civic responsibility and the needs in the community.”
The school will send its students home with fliers, and the PTA will be involved as well.
In addition to the school’s efforts, other community members will use their own connections to support the drive. Beach Giving LBNY’s Liz Nachman, who has assisted the soup kitchen before, has established a network of residential buildings as part of her group’s mission.
Each year, Nachman, a Long Beach resident for over three decades who lives in the Renaissance posts on the building’s bulletin board asking for donations. Her efforts have spread to other buildings in the city, including the Breakers, the Meridian, the Grenada and White Sands — which make up Beach Giving LBNY.
“It gets people to understand and educate themselves on the needs of people in our community,” Nachman said. “If people don’t see there’s a need, they’d never know.”
Each week, residents of the Renaissance leave donations at both her door and in the lobby. She collects them and takes them to the soup kitchen.
“I like to try and give back,” Nachman said of her efforts.
Kim Balder, who lives in Sea Pointe Towers — the same building as Hoenig — has been taking part in the donation efforts for years. Like Nachman, Balder also has an affinity for helping both the community and the soup kitchen. “Helping them out is always rewarding,” she said.
Balder, who has known Hoenig for over a decade, uses a connection at Key Food to purchase donations for the soup kitchen. Orders are placed and dropped off at her apartment. Sea Pointe Towers also has a donation box in the lobby, where residents leave juice boxes and other contributions.
Asked about her motivation for participating, Balder explained that it gives her a chance to help community members. “Just take a look at the people who the donations are going to,” she said. “A small act of kindness can be a big help for those who are in need.”
The Juice Box Drive began in 2023, after Hoenig and soup kitchen President Rob Blau read an article about the dangers of plastic leaching into water bottles. After discussing alternatives, Hoenig proposed juice boxes as a safer alternative, and launched the initiative to help offset the cost of paperboard-packaged beverages.
Those who are interested in donating but are unable to get to the drop-off locations can contact Maureen Doherty to coordinate a pickup at (516) 451-1071.
