Cityzens Giving Emergency Food - New York

Our Mission and Programs

New York Common Pantry (NYCP) reduces hunger and promotes dignity, health and self-sufficiency. Since opening in 1980 as Yorkville Common Pantry, a volunteer organization assisting 30 families, NYCP has grown into one of the largest food aid providers in New York City, providing over 9 million meals in FY22. NYCP programs are offered at our locations in East Harlem and the Bronx, and throughout New York City by way of our Mobile Pantry Program. We look at food assistance as only the first step to help alleviate food insecurity - case management services help our guests access much needed benefits, while our nutrition education program offers information on healthy eating habits and provides instruction in preparing the fresh, healthy food we serve. 

Our Choice Pantries provide nutritionally balanced grocery packages to thousands of families in East Harlem and the Bronx, providing over 2.8 million meals in FY22. Our choice model allows Pantry members to order their groceries online or on-site using touch screen tablets. Mobile Pantry brings the same fresh, healthy food available at our brick-and-mortar pantries to communities throughout New York City - we work with over 40 community partner sites in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens and in FY22, provided over 2 million meals. NYCP’s Hot Meals program is often our first contact with homeless and hungry New Yorkers, and serves healthy, freshly prepared meals 5 days per week and “brown bag” lunches on the weekends. Hot Meals provided over 50,000 meals in FY22. Project Dignity is a bridge back to well-being for our homeless guests - offering onsite showers, mail services, haircuts, laundry and connects them with services to help them find housing, job training, and medical care. Help 365 and Help 365 Mobile enroll people into our Choice Pantry program and provide case management services, helping people access assistance such as SSI benefits and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) - last fiscal year, our case managers helped access over $6 million dollars in resources. Live Healthy! is NYCP’s nutrition education program - helping participants build the food preparation and shopping skills necessary to eat healthily on a budget. We collaborate with clinical partners to reach food insecure New Yorkers at high risk for diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses related to a poor diet. Farm to Community - a Live Healthy! farm share initiative for low-income participants, increases access to healthy food - distributed over 4,000 pounds of fresh produce in FY22. Our Nourish program serves low-income seniors in their own communities, providing supplemental grocery packages at over 130 sites and serving approximately 17,000 seniors each month. This year, NYCP has focused on rebuilding our Food Rescue program - collaborating with new partners across New York City to rescue nutritious food that would otherwise end up in landfills.

We work in the communities we serve, providing a vital first contact for many families and individuals who need assistance. Community partnerships are central to our mission to reach food insecure New Yorkers and combat any stigma associated with receiving food assistance. We work with social service agencies, hospitals, senior and veteran centers, schools, community centers and settlement houses. Volunteers bring the community into our locations, packing groceries into Pantry packages and assisting the culinary staff in the kitchen. Many of our most engaged board members and generous supporters were originally introduced to the work we do by participating as volunteers.

NYCP food programs help families stretch their budgets, allowing them to reallocate their resources to housing, clothing, health care, and education, We provide not only fresh, healthy food, but a fresh start, a sense of community, and a hope for a brighter future, for thousands of individuals and families every year.

Milestones and Future Plans

While the pandemic continued to impact programs at NYCP during FY22, we have begun to transition back to normal operations. We have been able to restore our choice ordering system, indoor dining and hygiene services over the last year. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen the need for our programs continue to grow, even as society goes back to normal.

The majority of NYCP guests are low-income employed, often holding down multiple jobs with schedules that make it difficult to access much-needed services, especially if they have to travel around the city to get help. These people have been disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of the pandemic, the financial uncertainty that has come in its wake, and the end of pandemic enhanced government spending -  the challenges faced by food insecure New Yorkers have continued to grow. 

NYCP opened our new Food Storage and Distribution Hub (The Hub) - a 23,500 square foot warehouse space with dry storage pallet space, refrigeration, freezer, parking, open plan office space, meeting rooms, staff and volunteer break rooms, and changing/locker room. The building provides storage for purchased, rescued, and donated food, as well as accommodations for our Food Rescue, Nourish, and Mobile Pantry Staff.

As NYCP continues to provide food assistance in a larger service area, serving more individuals and families than ever, including many who have never accessed emergency food aid before, we remain committed to our guiding principles, providing respectful and individualized support