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.
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 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.