There are approximately four million New Yorkers who experience difficulty affording food – an astounding number and one that continues to increase as the donated food supply drops to an all-time low and food costs skyrocket. To address this issue, the Food Bank for New York City procures and distributes food to a network of approximately 1,000 food assistance programs citywide, including places like Beth Hark Christian Counseling Center, Inc.
Now serving New York City for more than 25 years, City Harvest is the world’s first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city’s hungry men, women, and children. This year, City Harvest will collect 26 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then delivered free of charge to more than 600 community food programs throughout New York City using a fleet of trucks and bikes as well as volunteers on foot. Beth-Hark Christian Counseling Center, Inc. receives donations every week from City Harvest. In addition, BHCCC serves as a referral site for the Project TEN, a Food Stamps/ Benefits Referral Project.
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger represents the more than 1,200 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries like Beth-Hark Christian Counseling Center, Inc. in New York City and the more than 1.3 million low-income New Yorkers who are forced to use them. The Coalition works to meet the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers and enact innovative solutions to help them move “beyond the soup kitchen” to self-sufficiency. NYCCAH keeps Beth-Hark Christian Counseling Center, Inc. connected to other agencies in the anti-hunger community, and educated on current hunger policy and related advocacy activities.
The Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP) is dedicated to reducing hunger while promoting dignity and self-sufficiency. YCP champions the cause of the hungry through food pantry and meal distribution programs, nutrition education, basic hygiene services, homeless support, and related services. YCP’s community based programs focus on East Harlem and other underserved communities throughout New York City.
For more than 70 years, United Way of New York City has been working for low-income New Yorkers. One in four people living in New York City does not have enough income and earnings to meet the most basic household budget. We all need a stable income to be able to provide the necessities – food, rent, and utilities. Yet so many New Yorkers don’t even have that; they’re just barely getting by. One in three families has no savings whatsoever for use in emergencies, and they regularly must make tough choices–buy food or pay the rent.United Way of New York City works to ensure that our low-income neighbors get the short-term help they need right now as well as assistance to become more financially stable over the long term with the initiatives like the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. By partnering with organizations like BHCCC, United Way battles hunger and food insecurity by providing funds to our Soup Kitchen and Pantry Programs.
