Mayor de Blasio Must Reauthorize Emergency Funding for Hungry New Yorkers
In these unrelenting,
turbulent times – a raging
pandemic, racial inequality
laid bare, insurrection
at the U.S.
Capitol, and threats
of riots at state capitols
– Bronx Children’s
Museum believes our
children need compassionate,
positive role
models now more than
ever.
On January 8, the
American Alliance of
Museums stated, “museums
must lean into their
missions and step up to
the challenges ahead of
us by educating our communities,
building empathy,
combating disinformation,
and uplifting
the stories and voices
that have endured in
the margins. As interpreters
and educators of
history and culture, museums
and museum professionals
have the power
to uphold democracy and
democratic norms, call
out bigotry and hate, and
fi ght for racial justice.”
Bronx Children’s Museum
reaffi rms our mission
and commitment
to support children and
their families by inspiring
children to love themselves,
discover their
voices, treat everyone
with dignity and respect,
and speak up against discrimination
of any kind.
To that end, below is a list
of articles and books to
assist and guide families
through diffi cult and trying
times.
Children are the light
at the end of the tunnel.
They are truth-tellers
who intrinsically know
what is right, fair, and
just. They are resilient.
Our hope is for a better
future. Let us learn from
our children. Let us learn
to empathize with one another,
to speak the truth,
and above all, do better.
Our children deserve
no less.
BY CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER
COREY JOHNSON, MET COUNCIL
CEO DAVID GREENFIELD AND
UNITED WAY OF NEW YORK
CITY PRESIDENT & CEO SHEENA
WRIGHT
New York City will be hurting
for a long time. We have lost
family, friends, neighbors and
loved ones in the fi ght against
COVID-19 and its many rippling
devastations. Millions
of New Yorkers are out of
work. Our seniors are homebound
and isolated. Children
are out of school, and away
from friends and teachers, as
their parents struggle to put
food on the table. We want to
rebuild a city where all New
Yorkers can thrive, but right
now New Yorkers are hungry
and struggling to afford basic
needs. The Council has led the
way calling for re-authorizing
the $25 million in emergency
food pantry funding distributed
last May. Mayor de Blasio
must act again. Millions
of New Yorkers still need this
support.
As we plan for our fi scal future
and the healing this city
will need for years to come, it’s
crucially important that we
don’t forget the millions of
New Yorkers hurting right
now and the role our food pantries
play in helping them put
food on the table.
Last May, the city, responding
to calls from a united
City Council, acted boldly to
get $25 million in emergency
funding for food providers
who knew their communities
best. The challenges caused
by COVID-19 were unprecedented
and wide-ranging. The
pandemic forced pantries and
soup kitchens to close, disrupted
supply chains, caused
shortages of staff and volunteers
due to quarantine, and
forced pantries to make signifi
cant changes to their operations
to meet new safety and
social distancing protocols.
Fortunately, the availability
and fl exibility of the city’s
emergency funding helped
avert a larger hunger crisis
in New York City, enabling
providers to open additional
pop-up sites, purchase PPE
and needed equipment, and do
whatever it took to ensure that
those in need could access nutritious
food.
With the funding organizations
that serve the hungry received,
they provided millions
of dollars worth of food, direct
fi nancial support and technical
assistance to the food pantries
in their networks. This
provided healthy and nutritious
meals to New Yorkers in
need.
The three-way partnership
between the de Blasio administration,
City Council, and
leaders of New York City’s
emergency food system was
key to its success. Met Council
and United Way of New York
City worked closely with the
Mayor’s Offi ce of Food Policy,
City Council members, Catholic
Charities, City Harvest,
Food Bank for New York, and
other organizations. These organizations
met regularly to
assess needs and develop a coordinated
funds distribution
plan. This enabled decisions
to be made by organizations
directly working in our communities
in need, but also facilitated
coordination to avoid
overlap, ensured equitable
distribution in priority neighborhoods,
and maximized the
reach of the city’s funds for
emergency food. This benefi
ted the entire ecosystem
of emergency food providers,
ensuring no community was
overlooked.
Demand has never been
so immense or the situation
so dire. Parents are reducing
their own meals to feed their
children.
There are thousands of elderly
New Yorkers, including
Holocaust survivors and people
with disabilities, who are
homebound, and vulnerable to
COVID-19. There are cab drivers
and college students who
need support, as well as small
business owners who went under
in this challenging economic
and social environment.
Families who have lost
a provider at home, especially
among Black and Brown communities,
are struggling fi nancially.
New Yorkers who are
undocumented and have been
left out of federal relief depend
on emergency food providers
for meals. Millions of New
Yorkers rely on assistance
from Met Council, United Way
for New York City and others
to provide them with safe, reliable
access to healthy meals
and groceries. These are our
neighbors, our friends, our coworkers,
and our family.
There is so much to do.
While hope is on the horizon,
we cannot forget or abandon
those hurting right now as
more and more New Yorkers
rely on food pantries for survival
every day.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed care of this
newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter, 3604 E. Tremont Ave.,
Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a verifi able address
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all submissions.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, JAN. 29-FEB. 4, 2021 13
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