Help Long Island Families: Drop Off Dry and Canned Goods at Advantage Hyundai

Every fall, our dealerships come together for an Annual Food Drive, and this year Advantage Hyundai has a collection box in the showroom. The goal is simple: get food onto the tables of Long Island families who are struggling to keep the pantry full. If you have a few cans or a box of pasta to spare, here is how to get it to the right place before the deadline.

How the food drive works

Our dealerships run this drive together each year, and Dennis O'Donnell is leading it again in 2026. Each store has one collection box. Ours sits in the Advantage Hyundai showroom, and it stays there through Thursday, October 22. The boxes are picked up on Friday, October 23, so anything dropped off after that won't make this year's collection.

You don't need an appointment and you don't need to be a customer. Walk in, tell anyone at the front desk you're here for the food drive, and we'll point you to the box.

What we can take

The box is for dry goods and canned goods, the kind of food that keeps on a shelf without a refrigerator. Good choices include:

• Pasta, rice and boxed grains
• Cereal and oatmeal
• Canned soup, vegetables, fruit and beans
• Canned tuna and chicken
• Peanut butter in plastic jars

Please skip anything fresh, frozen or homemade, and check the dates on what you bring. Food past its date can't be handed out, so it ends up thrown away instead of eaten.

Why it matters here on Long Island

It's easy to assume hunger is a problem somewhere else, but plenty of working families on Long Island come up short at the end of the month. Rent, heating and car payments don't leave much room, and groceries are often the first thing that gets squeezed. A bag of shelf-stable food won't fix that on its own, but a whole showroom of bags, multiplied across every store in the drive, adds up to real meals.

Another way to help: the truck show on October 25

If you miss our box, there is a second chance. On Sunday, October 25, 2026, from 9 AM to 3 PM, the Big Rigz Hammerdown "Show & Shine" takes over Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood. It's put on by Truckers for Turkeys and presented by New York Container & Trailer Co., and everyone is welcome.

There will be big rigs to look at, trophies, raffles and food. Bring canned goods, a frozen turkey or other non-perishable items, and they'll go to Long Island Cares, the Harry Chapin Regional Food Bank. Cash donations are accepted there too. For details, visit truckersforturkeys.com or call Barry at 631-463-2209.

Make it a family project

A food drive is a nice way to get kids involved in giving back. Let them pick a few things from the pantry, read the dates together and talk about why the food is going to families who need it. Some families turn it into a small grocery run: set a budget of ten or twenty dollars and see how many useful staples you can stretch it into. Kids tend to remember the day they carried the bag into the showroom themselves, and it plants the idea that helping out is just something you do.

Bringing in a lot? Here is how to pack it

If your office, team or neighborhood collected a big batch, that's fantastic, and a little packing goes a long way. Use sturdy boxes or reusable bags rather than thin plastic, keep cans on the bottom and boxes on top, and leave anything in glass at home. Give us a call before you come in with a large load so we can make sure there's room in the box, or a spot right next to it.

A small stop that makes a difference

If you're already coming in for service or to look at a new Hyundai, grab a few items from the pantry on your way out the door. If you're not, it's still worth the trip. Every can that goes in the box is one less thing a family has to worry about this fall, and we're proud to be part of it.