OUR SERVICES
LOOKING AT THE FUTURE
Our team spent time analyzing and studying the impact of our services on the people in our community hardest hit by the pandemic’s economic impact. Along with fellow anti-poverty advocates and medical institutions, we are looking to offer individual and group therapy sessions with certified professionals, cash assistance relief, nutritional workshops, cooking classes, and more in 2022.
CHILD NUTRITION MOBILE POP PANTRY AT LOCAL SCHOOL
We’ve been working in partnership with I.S. 528 and their staff, providing fresh, nutritious tote bags of groceries to 125 households with children enrolled in I.S. 528. We like to increase to 250 families weekly. We know that families with kids have been affected the hardest during the pandemic.
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Administrative staff of I.S. 528 (Principal Pichardo, Mrs. Brito and Mrs. Perez) We couldn’t have done all this without the support of community organizations, the fierce advocacy of impacted community members, and the combined voice of so many New Yorkers!
BY THE NUMBERS
WITH YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT IN FISCAL YEAR 2022
WE DISTRIBUTED
19,961 MEALS AND
1,652,252 LBS OF FOOD
65,000 HOUSEHOLDS RELIED ON US YEARLY
WE PARTNERED WITH
37 ORGANIZATIONS
IN OUR COMMUNITY INCLUDING SOUP KITCHENS, SCHOOLS, AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP TO NOURISH OUR COMMUNITY
OUR STAFF HELPED
200 HOUSEHOLDS RECEIVED CASH RELIEF PROVIDING
$50K IN ASSISTANCE
WE PROVIDED GROCERIES TO
186,524 PEOPLE
WE ENGAGED
1500 VOLUNTEERS
WHO DONATED
250,000 HOURS OF WORK
Hot meals- Grab and Go meals for Homeless
Serving Mon-Fri over 150+ homeless each day
750+ hot meals prepared and served a week
Currently refitting a van to use as hot meals mobile unit for serving hot food to homeless and needy population of WaHI
RE-ENGINEERING THE OPERATIONS
At the center of our operations, we added emergency pop-up pantries to serve 5,000+ households per pantry per week. Shahin Marjen joined our team in 2020 as Director of mobile pantries.
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Shahin oversees all of our pantry operations and has had countless experiences in the field that demonstrate the heart and grit of our staff. “In March 2020, we started opening pop-ups, thinking we might need one or two pop-ups to meet the dramatic increase in need,” she said. “But we ended opening 5, they always move fast, and when participants reach the finish line, everyone has a smile under their masks. Our priority is not only to provide food but a welcoming, positive experience.”
SAFETY FIRST
The pop-up pantries are meant to serve much larger crowds than our traditional HUB pantries so safety has been paramount. They are located on open curbed streets. We choose among different kinds of produce, grains, and protein like eggs or chicken, shifting to pre-assembled bags that minimize physical contact. These additional safety measures require a herculean effort of 15 volunteers per pantry.
Shahin coordinates over 210 volunteers weekly, some weeks requiring extra help from our wonderful community members.