Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. and Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine met with Brookhaven Town’s Senior Citizen Division staff, Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs and employees from Florian Food Services, Inc. and thanked them all for their hard work and coordination to deliver thousands of nutritious meals to homebound residents during the pandemic. They also handed out face masks made by inmates in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility.
On March 12, 2020, the Town of Brookhaven was forced to shut down its Senior Citizen Centers due to COVID 19. Following Supervisor Ed Romaine’s announcement that all town senior citizen activities would be suspended to protect the most vulnerable population, the Congregate Meal Program was immediately changed into a home-delivered meal program. Any seniors who previously received their meals at one of the senior centers now had their daily meals delivered to their homes by town employees. This service was offered in addition to Brookhaven’s Meals on Wheels program, which delivers food to homebound seniors who are not able to go to the Senior Citizen Centers.
In the two months since the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Town of Brookhaven has delivered 10,000 meals with the help of the County’s Deputy Sheriffs, who began assisting with the program at the end of March.
Sheriff Toulon was more than happy to assist the Town of Brookhaven during this crisis. “Due to the virus, courts were closed and we had deputies who were available to help. These men and women took an oath to serve and protect, and what better way to serve than to help feed those in need. I was proud to partner with Supervisor Ed Romaine in this effort, who has always emphasized the importance of caring for our seniors and providing excellent service to Town residents.”
Supervisor Ed Romaine said, “The Town of Brookhaven is grateful to Sheriff Toulon and the Deputy Sheriffs for delivering meals to the elderly who are most vulnerable to Covid 19. This is one more example of different levels of government working together to provide assistance to those in need. I cannot thank them enough for going above and beyond to make sure that our homebound seniors are taken care of every day.”
