City Harvest

One in three adults and nearly half of families with children in New York City experienced food insecurity in 2023, according to the sobering findings of Robin Hood's Poverty Tracker Spotlight on Food Assistance from New York City’s Pantry System released this month in collaboration with the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University and its Population Research Center. The findings underscore that the number of New Yorkers in need of food assistance has increased substantially since 2019, with twice as many families and twice as many working adults in need of food assistance in our city. Now, most of the people who need to turn to food pantries in order to feed themselves and their families are employed.?For many, food pantries are a critical tool to supplement inadequate wages and manage the challenges of affording the cost of living in New York City. City Harvest provided data included in the report that show that 87% of City Harvest program beneficiaries surveyed say food pantries help them to manage their budget and save on weekly grocery bills. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/eEx98rsT #WeAreCityHarvest ??: Paul Frangipane

Much of the food we get arrives in large bins, which can be challenging to distribute. Thankfully, our incredible volunteers step in to 'repack' that food into family-sized bags that our partners can easily distribute to New Yorkers to ensure they have the food they need to thrive. Thank you to OXO for volunteering through our Repack to Give Back Campaign! Volunteers packed 4,541 bags of apples to help provide food for our neighbors in need. Learn how your company can get involved: https://lnkd.in/epeJNTZt #WeAreCityHarvest ?? : Paul Frangipane

This month, Instacart donated more than 1,000 turkeys for City Harvest to distribute to our neighbors in need throughout New York City in time for the holidays. Yesterday, members of their team joined us for a turkey distribution at Salt & Sea Mission in Brooklyn. Thank you, Instacart, for standing with us to ensure New Yorkers have the food they need to thrive. Learn more about City Harvest at https://lnkd.in/dK6mxK4 #WeAreCityHarvest ?? : Lori Cannava

Last week, we kicked off our annual holiday season corporate volunteering campaign, Repack to Give Back. Right now, 50% of working-age households in New York City are struggling to make ends meet—that’s 3 million New Yorkers who do not make enough to cover the minimum cost of living in NYC—including basics like food, rent, and child care. Many thanks to GIC, ServiceNow, Vox Media, Aprio, WWE, 17Capital, and MUFG for volunteering with us to help provide free, nourishing food for New Yorkers in need. Learn more and get your company involved with Repack to Give Back: https://lnkd.in/eGXdyhGU #WeAreCityHarvest

Canstruction is back at?Brookfield Place?through 11/11! Check out the incredible 23 sculptures made entirely of canned food, which will be donated to City Harvest following the exhibit, and bring a can of your own to donate.? ? Thank you to this year's panel of jurors, including Food Council member,?Priyanka Naik, and congratulations to all the winners!?#WeAreCityHarvest Best Original Design: Little Shop of Hunger by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) Structural Ingenuity: CAN I get Another? By HOK Best Meal: We CAN Do It! By Buro Happold Most Cans: Hungry, Hungry, Sandworm by Urban Architectural Initiatives, RA, PC Honorable Mention #1: Ding-Dong, Hunger’s Dead! by Gensler Honorable Mention #2: Hunger: The Empire City Strikes Back by Thornton Tomasetti Cheri Award:?Anyone CAN Cook by Severud Associates

There's an entire congressional caucus dedicated to food rescue! This week, City Harvest's Chief Policy and Operations Officer Carlos Rodriguez spoke on a panel in Washington, D.C., hosted by the bipartisan group, to brief more than 85 congressional staffers on how food rescue can increase food security and reduce carbon emissions. Food rescue is at the heart of City Harvest's mission. This year, we will rescue more than 81 million pounds of high-quality, nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste and deliver it for free so that New Yorkers have the food they need to thrive. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our insights on Capitol Hill and to encourage food security for all of our neighbors. Learn more about our food rescue efforts: https://lnkd.in/dY8NQjui #WeAreCityHarvest

Today is?World?Food?Day—a?day?marked by United Nations to promote the right to adequate?food. At City Harvest, we work year-round to rescue and deliver high-quality produce that would otherwise go to waste to help provide free?food?for millions of New Yorkers experiencing?food?insecurity. Thanks to a generous friend of City Harvest, every gift made through October 26 will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $50,000, helping us to deliver twice as much?food?to our neighbors in need. Help feed good this?World?Food?Day: https://lnkd.in/ek5QHazK #WeAreCityHarvest

Today is?DAF?Day! A donor advised fund (DAF) is a tax-advantaged charitable investment fund that allows donors to champion their favorite nonprofits, like City Harvest. The need for food assistance in New York City is the highest on record, according to FeedNYC. Make a gift from your?DAF?to support our work rescuing and delivering free, nourishing food to New Yorkers in need:?https://lnkd.in/evhNUQcK #WeAreCityHarvest

Over 200 food pantry leaders from across our city provided their expert input on how state policies can fight food insecurity among New Yorkers who are grappling with the high cost of living. In partnership with Food Bank For New York City and United Way of New York City, our city’s three largest anti-hunger organizations, we identified three ways that State policies can help create food secure futures: ? ?? 1. Get more food to people who need it by investing in the emergency food system and expanding SNAP benefits and eligibility? 2. Make childcare affordable to help alleviate a key factor in higher food insecurity rates for families? 3. Improve housing stability to protect New Yorkers who are rent-burdened and 3X as likely to experience food insecurity We recently sent these policy priorities in a letter to Governor Hochul. Join us and stay updated on our advocacy campaign: https://p2a.co/4o8awR9

As Hunger Action Month comes to a close, we are sending a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took action and played a critical role in helping to provide food for our neighbors in need. ?? Special thanks to Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, who joined us in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, on Hunger Action Day for a repack where volunteers—including Food Council member Millie Peartree and actors Bianca Lawson and Dascha Polanco—packed 2,025 family-sized bags of pears, to be distributed to NYC families in need. It’s not too late to get involved. Find out how you can help feed good in NYC: https://lnkd.in/e7AYHgPW ?? : Paul Morigi / Getty Images / Feeding America