The holidays are fast approaching, and soon we’ll be in the midst of the “feasting season.” But of course only some of us have the means to fill a table with food. For others who can’t afford even the smallest meals, this might well be called the “fasting season.”
More than 1.3 million people in New York City alone rely on emergency food aid to feed their families — that means one in every six people in that city looks to a soup kitchen or food pantry to supply the daily basics, according to Robin Hood Foundation.
With so many people staring hunger in the face this holiday season, a dynamic poverty-fighting duo — Robin Hood and FreshDirect online grocer — is on a mission to provide 15,000 meal-boxes to New Yorkers in need. The effort carries a catchy tagline: “Not just good food. Food for good.”
Last Thursday, Oct. 8, the two organizations launched this ambitious campaign to provide food for 120,000 New Yorkers. Using social networking on sites such as twitter (#FeedNYC) and Facebook, the team hopes to motivate fellow New Yorkers to donate to the cause through Dec. 15. A contribution of $50 buys a holiday food box including turkey and fixings for a family of eight.
The charity is especially needed in this year of slumping economic fortunes. “We’re really pretty worried about this Thanksgiving,” said Gretchen Buchenholz, Executive Director of the Association to Benefit Children (ABC), which will use the food donated through Robin Hood’s campaign to feed its increasingly desperate East Harlem community.
“Things have continued to get worse. What was already a community struggling at this point faces hunger and homelessness and displacement and joblessness,” Buchenholz said. “Last year we had 200 more people — people often representing large families — than the year before. We had to turn families with children away, which we hope will not happen this year.”
Robin Hood Foundation’s mission is to fight poverty in New York City by uncovering, developing and supporting programs and schools that help poor families in concrete ways. The foundation partners directly with service organizations to ensure they can reach capacity and make the most effective use of their resources. Third-party evaluations keep the programs rigorous and the partners accountable. This stringency ensures that 100 percent of each $50 donation will go to those for whom it is intended.
The foundation’s broad reach and ambitious scale are keys to the success of this campaign. Robin Hood funds more emergency food aid in New York than any entity outside of government agencies. Last year, the foundation invested $4.2 million in soup kitchens and food pantries throughout the city.
“Robin Hood’s network of poverty-fighting organizations spans all five boroughs,“ said David Saltzman, Robin Hood’s executive director. “Combine that with FreshDirect’s food delivery expertise, and you get an incredibly powerful way to distribute holiday meals that will fill and nourish a great many of our neighbors who need some help during these tough economic times.”
Buchenholz agrees that Robin Hood is a powerful force for good. “Robin Hood is pivotal in our being able to serve poor children and families,” she said, recalling how the foundation began supporting ABC decades ago. “We’ve had the most marvelous partnership.”
At this time of year, the help of the foundation and its contributors represents the true inclusive spirit of the most American of holidays. “A lot of people who are in need in East Harlem are newcomers to this country,” Buchenholz explained. “One of the most striking things about the generosity of Robin Hood and all the people who contribute — including people who are up against it right now — is that it includes [these newcomers] at the table, includes them in what really is the American Dream: enough to eat for all of us.”
This Thanksgiving, Buchenholz told me, she and her organization have great generosity to be thankful for. “We are grateful to Robin Hood,” she said. “They are so compassionate and inspiring.”
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To contribute to the campaign, which will send boxes of food to New York families via organizations such as ABC, click through to the FreshDirect website. The campaign is accepting donations until December 15.
Photos: Front courtesy of D-Kav on flickr. Inset courtesy of shining.darkness on flickr (top) and CarbonNYC on flickr (bottom).