Food Bank For New York City held NYC’s Conference on Hunger and Poverty: A Million Reasons to Act, bringing together leaders from the anti-hunger community, supporters, and funders to look back at the last year of progress and move forward to address the city’s ongoing challenges. Over 500 attendees representing our network of member organizations packed workshops informing and inspiring them to offer new services, respond during crises, improve efficiency, and get their messages out.
The keynote speech was given by Jennifer Jones Austin, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA), an anti-poverty, policy and advocacy organization with 200 member human services agencies operating throughout New York City. Her message: that serving others empowers us to make change in our community and our political climate.
Food Bank held a press conference announcing new research titled Meeting NYCs Need: Bolstering the Emergency Food Network in 2017. With cuts to anti-hunger programs looming in Washington and the New York City budget, soup kitchens and food pantries around the City overwhelmingly list additional fresh food as their number one priority need. Our members represent the last line of defense against hunger, and have seen continued higher-than-normal demand in the years since the 2013 cut to SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps). Coverage included NY1, CBS News, and the NY Daily News.
The Cadwalader Award for Corporate Service was presented to Stop & Shop for its commitment to being a better neighbor and being a Food Bank partner for nearly 20 years. The Kathy Goldman Agency of the Year Award was awarded to The Action Center for their relentless and selfless service to the Bronx community.
Standout member organizations in each of the five boroughs were recognized for their excellence in the past year: Hope Line (Bronx), Little Sisters of the Assumption (Manhattan), Reaching Out Community Services (Brooklyn), Jesus Is The Answer Community Outreach Center (Queens), and the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island.
Food Bank For New York City is thankful for this year’s Conference sponsors and vendors: Stop & Shop, Diversified Foods, H. Schrier & Co. Inc., Minute Menu Systems, Port Royal, Tova Farms, Cutting Edge Beverages, Global Foods, Healthfirst, and Homestat Farm.