As the seasons change, so do our pantry goods. As we welcome in the season of apples and root veggies, we’re also reflecting on the bountiful produce and partnerships that have sustained our pantry throughout the past year, helping us provide 135,810 nutritious meals and serving over 15,000 clients between July 2020 and June 2021. Since this October began, we’ve served 425 families – that’s 1,400 members of our community!
We always keep certain pantry items stocked like rice, peanut butter, cereals, and dairy products, but our pantry clients have been most excited on Wednesdays when they received fresh vegetables from Mimomex Farms, and Thursdays when donations from City Harvest came in, which also provided food donated from Trader Joe’s.
Items like corn, cabbage, onions, and beautiful Romaine lettuces were a big hit, along with some more surprising options too, like this fresh lemon balm from Mimomex Farms pictured below.
These beautiful veggies from Mimoex came courtesy of Glynwood’s Food Sovereignty Fund, which connected 17 farms, all lead by LGBTQ+, BIPOC and/or female identifying people, to 15 community organizations like Center for Family Life’s Food Pantry. This year we have also been working with the NYU Community Food Coalition, who provides us with networking help and a small grant for purchasing food.
We’re so grateful to be partnered with these organizations that work to combat food insecurity and promote food justice across all facets of the food system, from our pantry in Sunset Park to farms across New York growing produce. And as always, we are grateful for support from donations that make sustaining this work possible.
If you would like to donate dried or canned goods to our food pantry this holiday season, we accept contributions Mondays through Fridays from 9:00AM to 4:00PM.
