Our Roots
Now serving New York City for more than 25 years, City Harvest is the world’s first and the city’s only food rescue organization. When it was founded in 1982, City Harvest was run entirely by volunteers who connected a handful of neighborhood restaurants to food programs serving meals to those in need.
Meeting the Need
City Harvest is and always has been the New York City community’s response to hunger. We link the food industry and countless organizations, foundations, corporations, and private citizens together to help feed their hungry neighbors.
More than 1.5 million New Yorkers currently live in poverty. Of those, more than one million rely on emergency food at some point during the year, including nearly 350,000 children and more than 140,000 elderly. City Harvest regularly delivers food to nearly 600 emergency food programs in New York City, helping provide food to over 260,000 men, women, and children each week.
Our Mission
City Harvest works to end hunger across the five boroughs. We do this by rescuing and distributing excess food, educating lower-income people to encourage self-sufficiency, and forging innovative partnerships within communities to bring thousands of hungry New Yorkers their next meal.
The Simple Facts
This year, City Harvest will rescue over 25 million pounds of excess food from food establishments throughout the city and across the country.
More than 90 staff members and 1,800 volunteers
A fleet of 17 trucks and 3 bikes
Food delivered nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Once rescued, food is delivered to soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless shelters, AIDS care providers, senior centers, and children’s day care centers that serve hungry New Yorkers in all five boroughs.
Our Generous Food Donors
In addition to collecting food from some of the top restaurants in New York City, our food rescue efforts have broadened to include donations from wholesalers and distributors, Greenmarkets, bakeries and caterers, farmers, hotels, hospitals, corporate cafeterias, and year-round canned food drives run by private citizens.
Celebrity Chefs Lead City Harvest Food Council
The City Harvest Food Council is made up of leading New York City chefs and restaurateurs who provide invaluable assistance with food raising and special events. Founding Food Council members include Eric Ripert, Dana Cowin, Michael Lomonaco, Danny Meyer, Drew Nieporent, and Gus Theodoro.
Volunteer Opportunities
Hundreds of New Yorkers as well as organizations, including the Police and Fire Departments, churches and synagogues, and youth groups supply volunteers to help City Harvest fight hunger in New York City through a variety of opportunities. One unique program, Street Fleet, sends volunteers to collect food donations under 20 pounds and deliver them on foot within an hour to a nearby community program. This frees City Harvest trucks to concentrate on larger pickups.
Funding
Financial support comes almost entirely from individuals, private foundations, and corporations. In fiscal year 2008, over 38,000 individuals made financial contributions to our smart, simple solution to ending hunger in New York City.
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