“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On Saturday, January 19th and Monday, January 21st, Food Bank For New York City and more than 600 volunteers turned their “day off” into a “day on” for the 6th annual Done In A Day for MLK Weekend of Service, sponsored by Barilla and with support from Dunkin Donuts and Cushman & Wakefield. Food Bank staff were joined by Board Chair Rev. Henry Belin and his family, Junior Board Members, and many special guests to serve two areas with some of the highest meal gaps in our City: West Harlem and the South Bronx.
Kicking off the weekend on Saturday, volunteers came out to our Community Kitchen and Pantry to do a deep clean of the kitchen and paint murals. At the Warehouse, volunteers started the work of preparing thousands of bags of dry goods, frozen protein, and produce that Food Bank will distribute to federal employees impacted by the government shutdown.
On Monday, Food Network Chef and Board Member Katie Lee, Chef Palak Patel, and volunteers from Barilla, Cushman & Wakefield, and Swarovski all rolled up their sleeves with Food Bankers to carry out the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In partnership with Barilla, volunteers at the Community Kitchen and Pantry in Harlem focused on packing and preparing 1,500 meals to distribute to our member agencies in the Harlem community. Volunteers heard from U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, NYS Assembly member Inez Dickens, and the esteemed former U.S. Representative Charlie Rangel. Representative Rangel spoke on his experience marching with Dr. King to Selma, and told the volunteers that their service is “what makes America great.”