UJA-Federation of New York Makes Emergency Grant to Met Council to Support Food Distribution to Vulnerable New Yorkers
March 22, 2003 (NEW YORK, NY)...Responding to multiple stressors on the food pipeline serving vulnerable New Yorkers, UJA-Federation of New York today announced an emergency grant of $250,000 to Met Council. The funding will enable Met Council to procure and distribute food from its warehouse to its network of food pantries in New York City.
“A collision of soaring food prices and safety-net services ending are hitting New Yorkers all at once, with potentially disastrous impacts on families. The timing could not be worse with Passover approaching and Jewish families needing to observe the holiday with special provisions,” said Eric s. Goldstein, CEO, UJA-Federation of New York. “While we are advocating for government assistance for hunger organizations, this grant will also help ensure our pantries are stocked with both everyday food and essential Passover staples.”
Ending of pandemic-era SNAP benefits: In March 2023, every SNAP household will see a decrease of at least $95 in monthly SNAP benefits, with larger households seeing sizable decreases. This reduction of benefits will likely drive more people to seek support from food pantries and other free food sources. For more information, please see https://hungersolutionsny.org/federal-nutrition-programs/snap/end-of-snap-ea/.
Cost of food: Both New Yorkers and food service organizations are spending significantly more money to procure basic food items.
Passover (April 5-14): The cost of essential Passover items, such as eggs, has skyrocketed.
In addition to the emergency grant to Met Council, UJA-Federation, along with a coalition of partners, is advocating for increases to emergency food programs across both the city and state.
New York City emergency food request:
- We are requesting a $7 million increase in funding for the Community Food Connection (formerly the Emergency Food Assistance Program) to a total of $59 Million. The preliminary city budget currently requests $52 million.
New York State emergency food request:
- We are requesting a $28.5 million increase in funding for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) for a total of $63 million. State budget currently allocates $34.5 million.
- To expand the Executive Budget proposal to increase funding for the Nourish New York program by $25 million for a total investment of $75 million.
About UJA-Federation of New York:
Working with a network of hundreds of nonprofits, UJA extends its reach from New York to Israel to nearly 70 other countries around the world, touching the lives of 4.5 million people annually. Every year, UJA-Federation provides approximately $180 million in grants. For more information, please visit ujafedny.org.