City’s largest food pantry honored with generous $50,000 grant
New York, NY--- Today Robin Hood Foundation honored Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP), New York City’s largest single-site community food provider, with the prestigious Robin Hood Heroes award and a $50,000 grant for continued services for the needy. Yorkville Common Pantry served 2 million meals last year, a 19% increase, and estimates it will provide more than 2.5 million meals this year as a result of increased need. YCP also connects individuals and families with health care, housing and shelter services, jobs training, as well as cooking and nutrition education classes.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke at the breakfast, and presenters included Robin Hood Founder Paul Tudor Jones and Robin Hood board members Tom Brokaw, Geoff Canada and Daniel Och.
“In a year when individual, family, and corporate funding went down, as the need for our services soared, we thank Robin Hood for standing by YCP and New Yorkers,” said YCP Executive Director Stephen Grimaldi. “Robin Hood's support has made it possible for YCP to serve 2 million meals and help clients access hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits they were not already receiving.”
Halana Richardson, a 44 year old mother of three and military veteran, is a typical YCP client. Following the death of her husband, she unexpectedly found herself struggling to feed her family.
“I never in my life thought I would have to go to a soup kitchen,” Richardson said at the Robin Hood award ceremony. “I was embarrassed and I was ashamed, but I had to do it for my family. Walking through the door for the first time, the people were so nice. When I got home from YCP, my children and I gathered in the kitchen around the bag and they were opening it like they were opening a Christmas present.”
“In the depths of a recession, these heroes and their courageous stories shed light on what nearly 2 million New Yorkers must endure and overcome,” said Tom Brokaw, host of the event. “The Robin Hood Foundation is extremely proud to honor these inspiring members of our community.”
Every year, the Robin Hood Foundation celebrates people and organizations making extraordinary contributions in the fight against poverty. The Heroes Award is limited to three to four organizations and/or individuals. Qualities honored include tenacity, selflessness, innovation, and the ability to profoundly affect people’s lives. Previous recipients include Food Bank for New York City, Legal Aid Society, Mt. Sinai Adolescent Health Center, among others.
YCP’s pantry programs provide supplemental food for poor families in all five boroughs, and the hot meal and brown bag service to assist the homeless. YCP’s unique 24|7 program helps individuals and families access emergency food when other food providers are out of food or when food is out of reach due to hours of availability or location. In food pantry services alone, YCP has seen a 38% increase in families this year, most with young children. YCP last year connected New Yorkers with $1.12 million in benefits, and nutrition education classes to help pantry families stretch their food dollars. Through the Project Dignity program, YCP provides showers, laundry, haircuts and housing assistance, among other needs, to the homeless.
Earlier this year, a New York City family of four lost their home to a fire, leaving them homeless and entirely without possessions. They came to Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP) on East 109th Street for a hot meal. While there, they also received clothes, diapers for the baby and a referral to a family shelter. It was an affirmation of their dignity in the wake of life-changing trauma.
“What makes Yorkville Common Pantry unique is that we provide a hand up for people,” says Executive Director Stephen Grimaldi. “It is a kind of povertyfighting machine that really addresses the needs of families in our community who are hurting and suffering.”
YCP has been supporting city families with food, resources and care since 1980. Last year, YCP served 6,200 families—roughly 14,500 people—through its pantry program, in which local families pick up a weekly “pantry package” with enough fresh and non-perishable food to feed every member of the family three meals a day for three days. Through the “24/7 YCP” program, anyone in the five boroughs can come to the pantry any day of the week from 8 a.m. to midnight to receive a hot meal and pantry package. If the family lives nearby, they can enroll in the pantry program; if not, YCP will connect them to a food provider in their community. “We want to help people gain access to food in a convenient, easy, dignified way,” Grimaldi says. Through the “CookShop” program, roughly 200 people participate in a monthly nutrition and cooking class, where participants learn to cut, prepare and incorporate fresh produce into their diets.
And YCP’s services extend well beyond food. “Project Dignity” provides everything from haircuts, laundry and mail service to vocational training, job referrals and connections to housing and counseling services. “Yorkville Common Pantry is not just about providing people with resources,” Grimaldi says. “It’s allowing people a quality of life.”
—Marisa Suescun
http://npaper-wehaa.com/nyf/2009/11/#?article=662661
Imagine There’s no Hunger, a campaign that will benefit World Hunger Year, kicked off at Hard Rock Cafe New York with a star-studded Red Carpet and Benefit Concert headlined by the band O.A.R. and featuring guest artist Arno Carstens. World Hunger Year (WHY) is a nonprofit organization that strives to fight against hunger and poverty in American and around the world. WHY invited O.A.R. fans to donate food to Yorkville Common Pantry and food pantries in New Jersey and Long Island. At YCP, the response was enthusiastic with hundreds of pounds of food collected from fans who brought food to East Harlem. Hard Rock International topped off the concert kickoff by presenting Yorkville Common Pantry with more than 2,200 pounds of nutritious food donated by Integra, Inc. and US Food Service of Metro New York.
YCP is grateful for the bi-weekly donations of fresh vegetables and greens we receive from Katchkie Farms/Greater Performances. Katchkie Farms is a year-round organic farming operation owned by the renowned catering firm, Great Performances, founded by Liz Neumark. After their large catering events, we receive healthy and delicious prepared foods for our clients. Katchkie Farms has a strong commitment to philanthropy, donating 5% of its annual harvest to selected non-profit hunger organizations, including YCP. To find out more about Katchkie Farms, read
Liz Neumark’s blog on the Huffingpost.Wachovia employees joined YCP’s efforts to help reduce hunger in New York. The enthusiastic group of volunteers helped pack and distribute groceries to individuals and families in our pantry. Wachovia is one of many corporations that visit YCP and directly impact New York’s neediest. Here are some photos from their visit to the
pantry.
$25 donations feed a family of five this Thanksgiving
New York--- Today, Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP), the city’s largest food pantry, launches its annual
“Let’s Talk Turkey” drive running now through Thanksgiving. The goal is to provide as many as
1,800 New York families with a turkey and all the trimmings. YCP is asking individuals and businesses for
donations of $25 to help provide Thanksgiving dinner for a family in need.
“Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to ‘talk turkey’ about the impact of the Great Recession and the new face of poverty in New York,” Stephen Grimaldi, executive director of Yorkville Common Pantry. “Yorkville Common Pantry is helping families hold on to their holiday traditions – even though they’ve fallen on hard economic times.”
For as little as $25, Yorkville Common Pantry is able to give a family of five a turkey as well as stuffing, cranberry sauce, vegetables, potatoes, gravy and dessert to prepare in their own home this Thanksgiving. “We provide the ingredients so that families can make their own celebrations and continue their own customs,” Grimaldi said.
Yorkville Common Pantry will also provide
hot meal Thanksgiving dinner service on Wednesday, November 25, starting at 4:30 p.m. to celebrate the holidays.
Last year, YCP served more than 2 million meals, a record high in its 29-year history. YCP’s pantry programs provide supplemental food for poor families in all five boroughs, and the hot meal and brown bag service assist the homeless. YCP’s unique 24|7 program helps individuals and families access emergency food when other food providers are out of food or when food is out of reach due to hours of availability or location.
“Our food pantry, 24|7 and hot meal program make YCP the largest single site community food provider in New York. For less than the cost of a soda, YCP is able to serve a family with a nutritious meal,” added Grimaldi.
In food pantry services alone, YCP has seen a 38% increase in families this year, most with young children.
To donate to the “Let’s Talk Turkey” campaign, please make a check payable to Yorkville Common Pantry at 8 E. 109th Street, New York, NY, 10029 or visit YCP online at
www.ycp.org.
Since 1981, Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP) has been 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.
