City Harvest Kicks Off Annual ‘Feed Our Kids Food Drive’ 

On Mother’s Day City Harvest launched its 27th annual Feed Our Kids Food Drive, which will run through Father’s Day, June 18. The food drive will help provide much-needed food for New York City’s children and their families, especially during summer months, when access to free school meals may become limited.

A recent City Harvest report found that families with children represent the group in New York City with the highest surge in visits to food pantries since the pandemic began. The Tiny Hands, Hungry Bellies: The State of Child Food Insecurity in NYC report shows that City Harvest and its partner food pantries and soup kitchens in all five boroughs logged nearly 11.4 million visits by families with children over the past year – a massive 67% jump compared to 2019.

Last year, the Feed Our Kids Food Drive collected more than 167,000 pounds of nutritious, kid-friendly food. One in four children in New York City does not always know where their next meal will come from, and the vital government supports that kept many families afloat throughout the pandemic have recently expired. Earlier this spring, 1.7 million New Yorkers saw their monthly allotments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) drop by at least $95 a month.