Save The Center for Family Life Food Pantry!
Tax deductible
OUR HIGHLIGHTS:
-Serving over 3000 individual meals a week
-Providing 100s of diapers and wipes for our youngest community members
-Delivering food to homebound residents
OUR GOALS:
-Raise 500k dollars so that we can plan for the future and have the security of knowing that we will be here serving our community-many of whom are being left out of stimulus relief due to anti-immigrant action and rhetoric at the federal level- for at least the next 10 months. We currently spend 10k dollars a week on food and critical supplies alone plus 2k a week for our skeleton crew of 3 staff members. This works out to 48k dollars a month we need to stay afloat.
-Have the funds necessary to staff our pantry adequately so that we can work safely and quickly with our neighbors, so that folks who are already under immense stress don’t have to spend hours waiting for their food.
-Have the resources available to make sure that our bags come not just with shelf-stable goods but also contain fresh produce; we believe food is a human right and that everyone should have fresh, healthy, unprocessed foods at all times. As part of this project we are looking to purchase our produce from local farmers to help sustain the farmers and keep the money in the community.
-Expand our supply of non-food items so we can continue to stock diapers for young families along with hygiene products for all family members.
OUR STORY
The Center for Family Life Food Pantry has been open for close to 40 years serving as a key lifeline to community members in times of need.
Sunset Park is a working class, largely immigrant community with many undocumented folks calling the neighborhood home. Even in “ordinary” times members of our community face issues of food and economic insecurity and rising costs of living have made our pantry increasingly important over the years.
Now, in the time of Covid-19 with unemployment rates soaring to record highs, food pantries and social service organizations are seeing a wave of historic need. While food insecurity is spiking across the world, many of our community members who work incredibly hard to keep this city running are being left out of national stimulus programs or are intimidated into not seeking them out by the anti-immigrant programs and rhetoric of the US federal government.
Before the crisis we served families and individual members of our neighborhood on a referral basis, with referrals coming from Center for Family Life case workers and representatives of other community organizations. People who came to the pantry were provided a 3 day food supply that folks could access once a month in a time of dire need to serve as a bridge between paychecks or benefit relief.
We have expanded exponentially to attempt to meet the current need. We are now open 5 days a week serving over 60 bags a day, with each bag containing enough food to prepare the equivalent of 12 individual meals. This works out to over 3000 individual meals a week. We are also providing diapers for young families and are hoping to be able to
We also used to restrict ongoing access to the pantry to people who lived within the zip codes designated as being a part of Sunset Park. We have attempted to drop as many barriers to access as possible, and now are serving anyone who comes to our door. As it is we only have the funds for food and staffing to serve 60 bags a day and every day we are faced with turning away families in need.
-Serving over 3000 individual meals a week
-Providing 100s of diapers and wipes for our youngest community members
-Delivering food to homebound residents
OUR GOALS:
-Raise 500k dollars so that we can plan for the future and have the security of knowing that we will be here serving our community-many of whom are being left out of stimulus relief due to anti-immigrant action and rhetoric at the federal level- for at least the next 10 months. We currently spend 10k dollars a week on food and critical supplies alone plus 2k a week for our skeleton crew of 3 staff members. This works out to 48k dollars a month we need to stay afloat.
-Have the funds necessary to staff our pantry adequately so that we can work safely and quickly with our neighbors, so that folks who are already under immense stress don’t have to spend hours waiting for their food.
-Have the resources available to make sure that our bags come not just with shelf-stable goods but also contain fresh produce; we believe food is a human right and that everyone should have fresh, healthy, unprocessed foods at all times. As part of this project we are looking to purchase our produce from local farmers to help sustain the farmers and keep the money in the community.
-Expand our supply of non-food items so we can continue to stock diapers for young families along with hygiene products for all family members.
OUR STORY
The Center for Family Life Food Pantry has been open for close to 40 years serving as a key lifeline to community members in times of need.
Sunset Park is a working class, largely immigrant community with many undocumented folks calling the neighborhood home. Even in “ordinary” times members of our community face issues of food and economic insecurity and rising costs of living have made our pantry increasingly important over the years.
Now, in the time of Covid-19 with unemployment rates soaring to record highs, food pantries and social service organizations are seeing a wave of historic need. While food insecurity is spiking across the world, many of our community members who work incredibly hard to keep this city running are being left out of national stimulus programs or are intimidated into not seeking them out by the anti-immigrant programs and rhetoric of the US federal government.
Before the crisis we served families and individual members of our neighborhood on a referral basis, with referrals coming from Center for Family Life case workers and representatives of other community organizations. People who came to the pantry were provided a 3 day food supply that folks could access once a month in a time of dire need to serve as a bridge between paychecks or benefit relief.
We have expanded exponentially to attempt to meet the current need. We are now open 5 days a week serving over 60 bags a day, with each bag containing enough food to prepare the equivalent of 12 individual meals. This works out to over 3000 individual meals a week. We are also providing diapers for young families and are hoping to be able to
We also used to restrict ongoing access to the pantry to people who lived within the zip codes designated as being a part of Sunset Park. We have attempted to drop as many barriers to access as possible, and now are serving anyone who comes to our door. As it is we only have the funds for food and staffing to serve 60 bags a day and every day we are faced with turning away families in need.
Fundraising team: CFL Food Pantry (2)
Noah Wolf
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY
SCO Family of Services
Beneficiary
Kelsey McFarlin
Team member