Brooklyn Food Bank Members Unite at Bethany UMC

Food Bank member agency Iglesia Cristiana Valle De Jesus Food Pantry serves our neighbors in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. To fuel the pantry’s work, Food Bank regularly provides fresh produce and shelf-stable goods to the organization, which are distributed weekly to more than 600 New Yorkers. The impressive operation at Iglesia Cristiana Valle De Jesus is run by a large and enthusiastic team, who make it a priority to always serve their neighbors with dignity and care. One way they do this is by providing an indoor space for community members to congregate while waiting to receive food and other services. When visiting a food pantry in New York City, you’ll likely notice long lines that wrap around the block regardless of the weather. This is a common sight for many of the hunger-relief organizations within our Food Bank member network, and it makes sense – these organizations are operating at full capacity and simply don’t have the space to welcome all their neighbors inside. But this can pose problems, with some programs facing resistance from nearby homes and businesses. To mitigate this, Iglesia Cristiana Valle De Jesus invites community members inside to escape harsh weather, use the restroom, and connect with the tireless staff. Clients often wait on long lines and often, outdoors. And this is all the more incredible because Iglesia Cristiana Valle De Jesus is completely powered by volunteers, who work long hours multiple days a week receiving deliveries, preparing storage, and running the pantry distribution on Thursdays. With no paid staff, the Iglesia Cristiana Valle De Jesus Food Pantry is a true community resource with neighbors helping neighbors each and every day. Volunteers are served dinner at Iglesia Cristiana Valle De Jesus Food Pantry. Food Bank proudly provides food, resources, and regular capacity support to over 800 community-based organizations like the Iglesia Cristiana Valle De Jesus Food Pantry. The Food Bank Member Network stretches across all five boroughs and to nearly every zip code in New York City. Visit foodbanknyc.org to learn more about our mission to empower every New Yorker to achieve food security for good.

Food Bank For New York City’s 2022 Pride Month theme is #ProudlyFed. For us, this means we not only serve the estimated 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ New Yorkers struggling to put food on the table, but that we do it with joy, love, and pride. We also recognize that food insecurity in the LGBTQ+ community is often compounded by things like workplace discrimination, healthcare inequality, and housing insecurity. A citywide survey conducted in 2017 found that over 18 percent of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers had experienced homelessness, with these numbers soaring up to 60 percent for individuals who identified as Black, Hispanic, transgender, or gender non-conforming. Over 20 percent of respondents also reported that they had been denied a promotion, not hired, or been forced to resign from a job due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. To address these diverse and varied challenges, we partner with and distribute food to community-based organizations that not only feed our LGBTQ+ neighbors, but work to provide them with free legal services, educational opportunities, healthcare enrollment assistance, and nutrition workshops. One such organization is Make the Road New York, a Food Bank member agency that serves immigrant, working-class, and transgender communities throughout Brooklyn and Queens. Make the Road doesn’t shy away from difference; on the contrary, the group finds power in bringing together New Yorkers from all different walks of life to advocate for collective change. To learn more about the group’s unique approach to service, we spoke with Mateo Guerrero-Tabares, the Trans Justice and Leadership Program Manager at Make the Road New York. Mateo pictured at Make the Road New York’s office in Queens. Photo credit: Feeding America. Mateo found his way to Make the Road in 2010 after arriving in New York City as an undocumented minor. He began his journey as both a client and volunteer, receiving aid from the organization to adjust his immigration status and stay permanently in the United States. Make the Road quickly became a “political home” for Mateo and was one of the first public spaces in which he felt comfortable embracing his identity as a transgender man. As he told us: “It was very special to be able to say, ‘Mateo, he/they pronouns’ and be uplifted and cared for in such a beautiful way.” Volunteers working the weekly food distribution at Make the Road New York. Photo credit: Feeding America. Now, in his role as the organization’s Trans Justice and Leadership Program Manager, he’s working to bring that same level of solidarity and support to the immigrant and transgender New Yorkers he serves, especially when it comes to providing them with reliable access to fresh, nutritious food. In fact, Mateo started a special “bike brigade” at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver groceries to nearly 400 families a week. It was a way to sustain the sense of togetherness that has long fueled Make the Road’s mission to build a more equitable future for New York City’s most marginalized residents. “I want our members to be able to define what it means to exist in New York — and not just survive — but have a dignified life,” he said. “That sense of pride comes from a place of resiliency and community.” Mateo pictured at Make the Road New York’s office in Queens. Photo credit: Feeding America. We couldn’t be prouder to partner with and provide food to organizations like Make the Road New York that put our LGBTQ+ neighbors first. For more on how we serve these New Yorkers now and throughout the year, click this link. You can also donate directly to our Pride Month fundraising campaign to help raise crucial funds for organizations just like Make the Road. Give here. *** A special thanks to Feeding America for partnering with us on a suite of stories featuring LGBTQ-serving agencies in our extensive member network of over 800 food pantries, soup kitchens, and campus partners across the five boroughs. View the stories here.

Food Bank For New York City is proud to provide food and other essential items to community-based organizations that work tirelessly to meet the dynamic needs of women and families across NYC. One of these organizations is The HopeLine, which recently hit a major milestone of distributing 2 million diapers to families in the Bronx! The HopeLine has been a Food Bank Member since 1994 but has been serving the Bronx for much longer – nearly four decades! While originally established as a food pantry, HopeLine quickly expanded its services to go beyond food to provide English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, SNAP benefit navigation, tax filing assistance, and more. As HopeLine Executive Director Maria Cintron puts it, if families need food, they might need other services to thrive, too. Help women and girls secure the period products, hygiene essentials, and childcare resources they need to thrive! Maria works around the clock to serve community members like Jessica (above right) in the Bronx. In fact, it was in 2015 that Maria saw how the high cost of diapers was impacting New York families, with some forgoing food to afford them. For Maria, this was unacceptable, so she launched a free diaper program to ensure families with babies and young children had access to this costly essential. “When we first started out, we were so happy to receive a thousand diapers that we could give to our moms,” she told us. “Looking back, it’s insane to think how little that is! Today, the need is so great in New York City and there are so few programs that we are having to turn away people on a regular basis. It breaks my heart. But I’m not giving up on them!” The HopeLine celebrated this milestone with neighbors at its location in the Bronx. The HopeLine is one of the few remaining diaper programs in New York City, distributing 7,000-10,000 diapers per week. It’s a daunting task that requires not only thousands of donations, but many hours of staff time to ensure each parent receives the exact diaper size they need for their children, while also running a food pantry that distributes food three times a week to the community. The program recently hosted an event to give away diapers and Food Bank was able to provide donated baby wash and fresh produce to support this 2 million diaper milestone with our valued partner! To learn more about The HopeLine and the work they do to nourish their community, watch the video below: Food Bank For New York City is humbled to provide food and other resources to an extensive Member Network of over 800 food pantries, soup kitchens, and campus partners across the five boroughs. To support organizations like The HopeLine, visit www.foodbanknyc.org.