Spring 2024 Pantry Press Newsletter
New York Common Pantry entered 2024 knowing that the number of individuals and families seeking our services had been climbing exponentially for months. Nearly three million people in New York City are struggling to make ends meet and 50% of working-age households do not earn enough to meet the minimum cost of living in the city to cover housing, food, healthcare, transportation and childcare. Single mothers experience the highest rates of income inadequacy, with 86% unable to cover the cost of basic needs when young children are present. The high cost of these basic necessities, the end of Pandemic-era benefits and tax credits, and wages that have not kept up with inflation continue to impact the most vulnerable among us.
Inflation and the increasing prices of groceries not only affect our neighbors at the checkout counter, but they affect NYCP. To ensure we can maintain our commitment to providing quality food and services to the community, we are actively working to reduce our food expenses.
We started by expanding our space. The recently purchased and renovated Food Storage and Distribution Hub in Hunts Point has three times the space of our former warehouse, providing bulk storage for nearly 600 pallets of food. In addition, our work as part of The Roundtable: Allies for Food Access keeps us at the forefront of evolving the emergency food system through collaboration, collective purchasing and sharing of best practices. The Roundtable organizations are on the front line of emergency food provision, and we have been placing bulk food orders together for shelf-stable pantry items and fresh produce, working together to minimize service duplication and sharing food rescue pickups and deliveries. Bulk food purchases have started to save us upwards of 20% on key staples.
Our ability to purchase and store more food means we can serve more people at a lower cost. We served more than 10 million meals last year and with the rise in hardship in our city we plan to serve twice as many in the next few years. NYCP continues to be here for all those in need in the community and we are grateful for your support so we can continue to provide this level of service every day.
Please read more in our: Spring 2024 Pantry Press Newsletter