Howard Hughes Corporation supports
New York nonprofits, first responders
BY GRANT LANCASTER
The Howard Hughes Corporation
has worked to
provide emergency support
in the form of food and donations
to community members
and fi rst responders amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic.
This aid has included donating
N95 masks to fi refi ghters,
providing pizza and bagels for
NYPD offi cers, supplying food
for nonprofi ts serving seniors and
helping small businesses serving
the community stay open.
The company provided food
for Grand Street Settlement’s
program to provide groceries to
about 500 New York City seniors
so they can avoid going out, said
Clovis Thorn, managing director
of development and communications
for Grand Street Settlement.
Grand Street Settlement had
offered a meal delivery service,
but it was not always enough to
keep seniors from needing to go
out for other groceries, Thorn
said. The bags of groceries Howard
Hughes Corporation provided
have helped meet that goal.
BY BETH DEDMAN
Chobani has redirected
the focus of their Chobani
Café in SoHo into
a temporary food pantry, where
employees are giving away free
Chobani products beginning
April 28.
The café will open twice a
week for the foreseeable future
to give free products and support
families and food bank workers.
The Café food pantry is staffed
by Chobani Café employees and
volunteers from the #BeAShepherd
initiative. Chobani is the
Turkish word for “shepherd” and
inspired the “giving back” values
Chobani wants to embody at this
time.
“We launched the Chobani
Pantry as a way to help give back
to our local neighborhood and
donate nutritious food to those in
need,” President of Chobani Peter
McGuinness said. “We’ll turn our
Chobani Café into a temporary
Reacting to the pandemic has
been different than other natural
disasters because the consequences
have been more longterm,
requiring greater sustained
support for New Yorkers in need,
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOWARD HUGHES CORPORATION
Chobani repurposes SoHo Cafe into
food pantry amid COVID-19 pandemic
food pantry to help support our
local community in these uncertain
times. Nationally, we’re
sending a truck a day to deliver
products to food banks across the
country where it’s needed most.”
Chobani will send a truck to
the pantries every day to food
banks who desperately need
supplies across the U.S. They
will also visit hospitals and other
areas where front line workers are
employed. The trucks will focus
on areas like New York City, Chicago,
Atlanta, and Detroit.
Chobani is also using their
online advertising, website and
social media to benefi t Feeding
America’s digital brand.
Chobani has already donated
more than 1 million cups of yogurt
across the U.S.
Thorn said.
“It’s a different type of disaster,
but I don’t think the response has
been any less robust,” Thorn said.
In addition to supporting
community aid organizations,
the corporation has contributed
to small businesses like the nonprofi
t Fulton Stall Market, which
sells goods from local producers
and offers community classes
on cooking, farming and other
agricultural and sustainability
skills.
Howard Hughes Corporation
contributes to the market normally,
but has increased their contribution
during the crisis so that the
owner, Bob Lewis, who is in his
70s, can stay home where his risk
of infection is lessened, Lewis said.
In addition to supporting the
market’s staff, the corporation
provided sanitation equipment
that has been crucial to keeping
the market open, Lewis said.
Although many of the inperson
and outdoor programs at
the market have been postponed,
the market is open for shoppers
and their Community Supported
Agriculture food share program is
more active than ever, Lewis said.
“From heroic fi rst responders
to some of our community’s
most vulnerable residents, HHC
is proud to play a role in making
life a little easier right now during
this unprecedented crisis — and
to support local businesses in the
process,” said Saul Scherl, president
of the New York Tri-State
Region at the Howard Hughes
Corporation.
Schneps Media April 30, 2020 3