100% of your donation will be used for the preparation and delivery of meals, thanks to our partnership with the City of New York, Citymeals board members and certain designated grants for administrative expenses.
Support Citymeals
Many older New Yorkers are facing hunger and, like all of us, they need more than one meal a day. Citymeals' research shows that 60% of older people already receiving home-delivered meals still experience food insecurity. Half of those said the program should provide two or more meals a day.
Our Mobile Grocery program closes that meal gap, providing more food to our most vulnerable recipients in new and different ways. Each delivery is the equivalent of 9 meals and includes nutritious staples, like brown rice and oatmeal, as well as dairy items and fresh produce, providing our recipients with both variety and flexibility in between their regular meal deliveries.
Citymeals is also piloting an 18-meal grocery delivery program for food-insecure recipients in the Bronx. Launched in partnership with Neighborhood SHOPP and the West Side Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH), recipients can choose from four different options and order by phone or online.
We also deliver fresh produce monthly to 3,000 Citymeals recipients in need. Each delivery includes several pounds of seasonal fruits and vegetables, to ensure recipients have additional and varied food on hand. We’ve expanded this program thanks to the generous support of New York City Councilmembers and partnerships with community organizations, like Sharing Excess. Last year, we delivered over 33,000 pounds of fresh produce to our recipients.
My heartfelt thanks for these lovely gifts of fresh produce. This week, it was four perfect, tasty apples.
Food insecurity isn't just about physical access, but also financial access. Poverty among older New Yorkers is growing dramatically. The majority of our recipients are living on $15,000 a year or less. In an expensive city like New York, that doesn’t go far.
To address affordability, Citymeals is piloting a Grocery Voucher program that provides meal recipients most in need with $80 a month to use toward groceries of their choice. Currently only available in Brooklyn, we plan to expand this program to other boroughs.