What Are You Hungry For? Success? Fame? Fortune? Food? While we push for more, some people don’t even have the basics. Some hunger just gets in the way. Here’s how you can help some kids who are hungry for what you might take for granted.
In our world today, it sometimes feels so difficult to make lunch plans that work for each person’s special diet. Gluten free. Paleo. Juicing. No sugar. Vegan. Atkins (does anyone still do Atkins?).
In all the fuss around these specialty diets, here’s what gets lost…. some people in our city don’t have the luxury of restricting their diets in this way. They don’t have regular access to food, and are simply grateful to have anything to eat. Even if it does have gluten.
Nearly 1 in 4 children in New York City are “food insecure” – they don’t always know where their next meal will come from. When classrooms empty for the summer, access to free school meals may become limited, adding further strain to families who are already struggling to put food on the table.
To be clear, we are not just talking about homeless people. Some people must decide each month whether to pay the rent or put food on the table. They might be your co-workers or your neighbors. Their kids might be in school with your kids.
Hunger is a real problem in New York City, and in the rest of the country.
And it is a completely solvable problem.
Consider that in the United States, more than 20 pounds of food per person per month is thrown away.
Please stop for a moment and think about that.
20 pounds. Per person. Each month. Thrown away.
We are filling landfills with food while children and adults go hungry.
I hope this pains you as much as it pains me.
The good news is that we can do something to help. This is where City Harvest comes in.
City Harvest is the nation’s first food-rescue organization. Through a fleet of refrigerated trucks and street volunteers, City Harvest rescues good food that would have otherwise been thrown away – excess fruits and vegetables, overstock of bread, meats and dairy, etc. – and delivers it to food pantries and soup kitchens. Chefs then turn that food into delicious meals that feed our city’s hungry.
I’ve been involved with City Harvest for over 15 years, and believe passionately in their mission of ending hunger in NYC. (I’d like to end hunger everywhere, but I start where I can.)
One of the things I love most about City Harvest is that it is a model of efficiency. City Harvest’s efforts are fueled mostly by volunteers: the truck drivers who drive the big City Harvest refrigerated trucks, the individuals on the street team who pick up from local restaurants, the groups who volunteer at the greenmarket collecting food from the participating farmers, and the chefs and restaurants who donate their food and participate in City Harvest’s annual tasting events.
Skip Lunch Fight Hunger is City Harvest’s annual campaign, based on a simple premise: put your lunch money to use to feed others.
Consider this: the cost of an average take-out lunch in NYC is $15. That amount can help City Harvest feed 57 children.
This is an organization that has proven that a little goes a long way. 93 cents of every dollar donated to City Harvest goes directly to support its programs fighting hunger in NYC.
57 children can eat lunch for the price of your lunch salad. Crazy, right?
- $15 helps feed 57 children for a day
- $30 helps feed 16 children for a week
- $50 helps feed 6 children for an entire month
- $100 helps feed 4 children all summer long
There is absolutely no reason for anyone in our city – or the world – to be hungry. Honestly, I get worked up everytime I think about it.
This week, I’m asking you to help me in supporting City Harvest’s important work.
Let’s put our food preferences aside and come together to feed our city’s hungry.
Let’s ensure that everyone has access to nutritious and delicious food.
Let’s keep the food out of the landfills and get it into the bodies of growing children, and their parents.
Please click here to donate in any amount. Donate the amount you spend on lunch, or on a nice dinner out. Or donate the amount you spend on your morning latte. No amount is too small.
If you’re up for a bigger challenge, please join my team and recruit more donors to help feed the hungry who live among us.
At the very least, please share this post with your tribe and encourage them to get involved by donating.
Thank you.
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