Military Veterans Combating Hunger: From NYC to the Middle East

When Sha-Quana was 19, she found herself in a shelter with her baby girl. Times were tough and there were moments when she had only $10 to her name. How would she spend the money? Would she buy a sandwich to feed herself or baby formula for her daughter? You know what choice she made and know that it wasn't a choice at all. Help us get period products, hygiene essentials, and childcare resources to women and girls in need! Sha-Quana Cromwell at Food Bank's Community Kitchen & Food Pantry in Harlem. But things started to turn around when Sha-Quana got a job at Food Bank's Community Kitchen in West Harlem. At first, it was just a paycheck, but it soon turned into something more. Helping to prepare hundreds of meals a day for New Yorkers in need brought a light into Sha-Quana's life. As she says, she's now on a mission. Sha-Quana with Food Bank Culinary Manager Chef Sheri. To learn more about Sha-Quana and see her in action helping to prepare the hundreds of meals we serve a day at our Community Kitchen, click play below: Join us in celebrating the women we serve and those who power our mission every day at this link. Together, we can make progress on a more hopeful, dignified, and equitable future for ALL.

Food Bank For New York City provides food and other resources to a network of over 800 food pantries, campus pantries, soup kitchens, and healthcare partners across the five boroughs. To facilitate learning, dialogue, problem-solving, and creative brainstorming within our network, we regularly host “Borough Chats,” which bring together Food Bank Members of the same borough to talk about issues impacting their communities. Take a step inside this year’s first Food Bank Borough Chat, hosted by longtime Food Bank member agency Bethany United Methodist Church in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Brooklyn Representatives at Bethany United Methodist Church for Food Bank's borough chat. Over 35 representatives from our Brooklyn member agencies showed up on February 7 to discuss community needs across Brooklyn. Attendees heard from Food Bank staff, the Academy at Bank of America, and the Interim Director of the Mayor’s Office of Asylum Seekers. The conversation was warm and productive as network leaders strategized about ways to improve client interactions during food distributions, best practices in recruiting and keeping volunteers, and how to serve the needs of asylum seekers in New York City. Attendees review map of Food Bank member agencies in Brooklyn. The chat was a major success, made possible by our gracious hosts at Bethany United Methodist Church, a Food Bank Member since the 1990s! We are proud to support the work they do to empower every New Yorker to achieve food security for good. More About Bethany United Methodist Church Located on St. Johns Place, Bethany United Methodist Church has worked to fight food insecurity in Crown Heights for over thirty-five years, operating a soup kitchen that distributes nearly 1,000 meals a month. This Food Bank member agency also provides coats in the winter and backpacks for school-aged children. To support this work, Food Bank provided Bethany UMC with two double-door freezers to increase capacity in its kitchen. This extra capital support has helped the agency to expand operations, boost production, and serve more nutritious food to its community. Member Spotlight: Amanda Wesley, Executive Director of Bethany UMC’s feeding program. Ms. Wesley has been volunteering at the program for 25 years. She believes that the rising cost of food is one of the most pressing issues when it comes to food insecurity in New York City. Over the past year, she’s seen the program’s line getting longer and longer with some community members visiting during their lunch breaks to help offset food costs. She is enthusiastic about her work at the soup kitchen and loves receiving compliments about the food... a client once told her that the soup kitchen has the best food in Crown Heights! Food Bank is thrilled to offer engagement opportunities to its members across the five boroughs and to cheer on leaders like Ms. Wesley who are making a difference in their communities each day. Participant Violet poses with Amanda, the Executive Director of Bethany United Methodist Church’s feeding program. Visit foodbanknyc.org to learn more about our mission to empower every New Yorker to achieve food security for good.

September is Hunger Action Month, a time for all of us to stand up and fight back against food insecurity in the boroughs of New York City and the United States at large. In NYC alone, food insecurity has increased by 44 percent due to the ongoing pandemic – that's 1.6 million New Yorkers struggling every day to feed themselves and their families. Though the numbers are daunting, the truth is that we can fight hunger together. To see how you can join us in nourishing our neighbors this Hunger Action Month, check out the actions below. Donate An easy way to get involved in the fight against food insecurity is to give generously to hunger relief organizations that inspire you. At Food Bank, $1 can provide up to 5 meals for our neighbors in need. Click here to help power the programs that get food into our most vulnerable communities. Fundraise Want to kick your giving up a notch? Then consider launching an online fundraiser to encourage your family and friends to join you in supporting our mission. It’s as simple as clicking this link and spreading the word on social media. And don’t worry, the link above will provide you with all the guidance you’ll need to get started. Raise Awareness Speaking of social media, a fantastic way to engage with Hunger Action Month is to raise awareness about food insecurity and poverty online. You can either share the content we post or let our cache of social media assets inspire you. No matter what you share, make sure to use the #FeedAll and tag us @FoodBank4NYC! Advocate Food Bank’s advocacy work seeks to organize and engage community action in the fight against hunger. Join us now in urging Congress to support anti-poverty priorities in the American Families Plan, including permanent expansion of the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits, expanded Summer-EBT, and additional investments into The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Click here to raise your voice. Learn While all of these actions are incredibly valuable, perhaps the most important thing you can do is learn. Learn about food insecurity and the systems that cause it. Learn about the work being done to fight it. Empower yourself with knowledge and you’ll be amazed by the things you can do. To start, read our recent interview with Food Bank President & CEO Leslie Gordon in which she chats about the significance of Hunger Action Month to the work we do.