Food Bank To Debut “Together We Rise” Story Series, Videos, Activations, And More During Hunger Action Month
September 1, 2022 New York, NY – September is Hunger Action Month , a time to raise awareness about the fight against hunger and food insecurity in New York City and beyond. This is especially timely as inflation continues to force more and more New Yorkers to the pantry line each day. At Food Bank For New York City, the city’s largest hunger relief organization, lines continue to be just as long, if not longer, than they were at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a robust public awareness campaign spanning multimedia channels across New York City, Food Bank will present and share stories of strength, resilience, and hope from individuals who power and embody the organization’s mission to feed all.
The theme of Food Bank’s Hunger Action Month awareness campaign builds upon the momentum of the organization’s 2021 slogan, “One Mission. Five Boroughs. Feed All.” and extends itself further, “As food prices rise, so do we.” Food Bank’s overarching efforts will come to life across mobile trucks, billboard ads, commercials, pro-bono partnerships, social media, and more. To ignite the power of community, Food Bank will debut an online story series, “We Rise” throughout September. The series will be presented by Grubhub, whose immense generosity is enabling the Food Bank to continue the work of feeding and nourishing all New Yorkers in these challenging times.
According to the Bureau of Labor, since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the cost of groceries in the New York metropolitan area has increased by 15.3%. In New York City alone, food insecurity has increased by 44%, the sharpest increase Food Bank has reported since the organization began tracking food insecurity citywide a decade ago. One Mission Five Boroughs Feed All brings to the surface one of the worst inflation crises in decades.
While the face of hunger hasn’t changed there are new entrances to the food insecurity space that many New Yorkers are having to navigate. Map the Meals Gap data shows that more than 1.2 million New York City residents are food insecure, which is an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. With inflation continuing to surge individuals are having a difficult time obtaining what they need to live day-to-day. As of June 2022, the unemployment rate in New York City is 6.2% with nearly 250,000 New York City residents who are currently unemployed.
About Food Bank For New York City
Food Bank For New York City is the largest hunger relief organization of the city fighting food insecurity on the ground since 1983. By partnering with over 800 soup kitchens, food pantries, and campus partners across the five boroughs, Food Bank is able to make a direct impact in the communities that need it most, providing some 1.4 billion meals to New Yorkers since its founding. But food alone can’t solve hunger. That’s why Food Bank employs a two-prong approach of Community Nourishment programming (to provide immediate and reliable access to food today) with Economic Empowerment programming (to equip people with the tools they need to achieve food security into tomorrow and beyond). All of these services – from grab-and-go pantry bags to hot meals, tax filing assistance, SNAP enrollment, nutrition education, and financial empowerment workshops – are free and available to anyone who needs them. To learn more about Food Bank’s mission to dignify, nourish, and empower ALL New Yorkers facing food insecurity, visit foodbanknyc.org.