Most kids rejoice at the prospect of summer vacation, but for the roughly 420,000 food-insecure children in New York City, summer means the loss of school meals. Therefore, the season is a critical period for City Harvest, the world’s first food rescue organization, which has teamed up with culinary expert and “Top Chef” judge Gail Simmons to launch “Feed Our Kids,” an advocacy campaign to combat and heighten the visibility of child hunger in New York City.
Through the Feed Our Kids food drive, which runs until Sunday, June 21, City Harvest will focus on combating child hunger in NYC. New Yorkers can run their own drives, or donate non-perishable foods at locations throughout the city to be distributed to soup kitchens, food pantries, and other community programs across the five boroughs.
Last year, the Feed Our Kids food drive collected 250,000 pounds of food–enough to feed thousands of New York City families for an entire summer.
“In the summer months, we hope to get more people in New York City engaged and aware of the issues of child hunger,” says City Harvest executive director Jilly Stephens.
City Harvest held several events earlier this spring to raise awareness and funds for child hunger, including a forum on how the city, alongside local nonprofits and schools, can help alleviate food insecurity among children, as well as the Skip Lunch Fight Hunger initiative, encouraging New Yorkers to donate $15 (the cost of a lunch) to the campaign.
Simmons, who has been on City Harvest’s food council for several years, has always been eager to raise awareness and funds for this cause, Stephens says. “She’s also a new mom who is very thoughtful about the issue of nutrition and the nutrition for children. She’s an important voice for us in this campaign.”
Through the NYC Alliance for Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization (CNR), City Harvest is also urging Congress to renew legislation that would provides food and nutrition education to children and families. The Child Nutrition Act, which Congress authorizes every five years, is due to expire on October 1 of this year. The NYC Alliance for CNR wants to make changes that will increase funding for the cost of meals, make nutrition education programs more universal, and help reduce child obesity.
For Stephens, who’s a mom herself, the issue of child hunger is one that hits close to home.
“I have three children in three different schools…where many of their peers are struggling to put food on the table every week,” says Stephens. “I am grateful for the work we do at City Harvest, not only to get more food, but also to raise awareness.”
To learn more about City Harvest and the Feed Our Kids campaign, visit cityharvest.org!
