Maspeth activist urges DOE to help feed
the homeless with schools’ food excess
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Crystal Wolfe, the founder
and president of Catering for
the Homeless, has been on a
mission to feed the homeless
and others who are food insecure
in Queens well before
the COVID-19 pandemic hit
New York City.
“Our main mission is
to end hunger by utilizing
food excess from catering
companies, schools, restaurants,
and grocery stores for
the homeless and food insecure,”
Wolfe said. “There
has never been so much hunger
and homelessness in the
history of America, and New
York City has the greatest
homeless population in the
nation.”
Wolfe is a well-known advocate
for homeless people
in the community, and even
wrote a book, “Our Invisible
Neighbors,” debunking myths
about the state of being homeless
where she noted homelessness
often stems from domestic
violence and poverty,
to name a few reasons.
But the Maspeth resident
does much more than write
and give the community a
voice — Wolfe actually goes
out and collects food as well
as supplies to distribute
among Queens’ neediest
families.
To date, Wolfe has provided
approximately 41,000
meals to the homeless and
food insecure through church
lunches and dinners, food
pantries, as well as directly
to homeless people and migrant
workers, and provided
approximately 16,000 items
of clothing for the homeless
throughout NYC.
She developed a network
of partners in Queens,
Brooklyn and Manhattan,
many of which are churches,
pantries and other organizations,
that she counts on
to help distribute the items
among people and families
after gathering the food from
various catering companies
and restaurants.
“There is food going
to waste in every town in
America that no one needs
to go hungry,” Wolfe said.
“Getting this food excess to
those who need it can solve,
or greatly reduce, this hunger
crisis.”
In NYC, there were 62,679
homeless people, including
14,682 homeless families
with 22,013 homeless children,
sleeping each night in
the New York City municipal
shelter system, according to
the organization Coalition
for the Homeless.
Getting the DOE
on board
However, Wolfe believes
there’s a particular element
that’s missing in order to
reduce the hunger crisis in
NYC: The food excess from
schools.
Wolfe has tried to work
with schools across Queens
in order to redistribute their
food excess for years, but is
met with a hesitant yet resounding
“no” every time.
She said the main reason
schools don’t feel comfortable
donating their food is
because they don’t have set
guidelines from the Department
of Education.
In response, she created
a petition to get the DOE to
comply with the food law that
passed in 2017 and was cosponsored
by state Senator
Joseph Addabbo, which encourages
schools to donate
their unused food items.
She has the support of
many people in the community,
including former educators
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | APRIL 17-APRIL 23, 2020
like Councilman Daniel
Dromm and Jerry Drake, a
Community Board 5 member
who retired a year ago from
a school in Corona.
“Running out of food for
a school has never happened
in my experience of being in
25 plus schools, they always
have food left over that was
not used. What happens to
that food?” Drake said. “I
used to watch the students
throw away perfectly good
apples not even taking a bite
and would think to myself,
‘What a waste.'”
Wolfe understands that liability
is a big concern, but
she emphasizes that she’s
done extensive research and
hasn’t come across an actual
lawsuit against a food donor.
“My organization would be
happy to accept all liability and
I would gladly sign a waiver to
that effect,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said she was able to
talk to Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza directly
during Community Education
Council 24’s town hall
in March.
“I was gratified to hear
the chancellor say that he
is open to getting more food
excess from the schools out
into the community,” Wolfe
said.
Since then, the COVID-19
crisis has caused all schools
to close. But there are still
more than 400 locations in
NYC serving three, free
meals a day for kids and
adults, which initially began
as breakfast and dinner
for students who are school
aged. The DOE also opened
almost 100 Regional Enrichment
Centers throughout
the city, where they’re also
providing meals for the children
of first responders.
One of the reasons officials
were hesitant to close
schools was because many
students and families depend
on them for their daily
source of food.
According to a 2019 report
by Advocates for Children,
one in 10 of NYC’s public
school students are homeless.
An estimated 348,500
NYC children live in food insecure
households, according
to the nonprofit Feeding
America.
Yet, the first week the
DOE began the “Grab and
Go” initiative, Pix 11 reported
that some schools’ free
lunches became garbage.
“It’s still likely they have
food excess,” Wolfe said.
“My hope is to work with
them now with Enrichment
Centers that have that food
excess, and then, of course,
when schools reopen.”
The DOE told QNS they’d
review the petition.
“The health and well-being
of our students is our top
priority and every day school
is in session we serve free,
nutritious breakfast and
lunch to all New York City
public schools students citywide,”
a DOE spokesperson
said. “Our rigorous health
and safety standards prohibit
repurposing food that has
already been served.”
Catering for the Homeless’
COVID-19 crisis relief drive
In the meantime, Wolfe
continues to go out into the
community and help those
in need, with added precautions
due to the rapid spread
of COVID-19 in the borough.
In the past three weeks,
Wolfe has delivered more
than 300 food and toiletry
items to food pantries in
Ridgewood and Woodside,
assembled 100 bags of toiletries
and food with six to
eight items per bags, began
distributing the 3,000 socks
she won from Hanes’ 2020
Sock Drive, and helped organize
about 700 bags of food
to provide a week’s worth of
meals for about 100 families
at St. Teresa’s Food Pantry
in Woodside.
Wolfe believes that, to an
extent, the repercussions of
the coronavirus outbreak
we’re witnessing are due to
the existing failures within
NYC’s — and the nation’s —
system.
“When you ignore problems,
the problems get
worse,” she said. “These
problems didn’t happen
overnight and solutions also
won’t happen overnight. It’s
going to take time, but what
drives me to make it happen
is knowing people are suffering.”
The need, Wolfe said, will
only increase from here. But
she’s ready to work within
the community to help feed
people.
Wolfe added, “I hope people
will start to realize that
what’s happening in the entire
country right now due to
the pandemic — Americans
losing their jobs with no
fault of their own, not being
able to pay the bills or food
— that’s what’s been happening
to millions of homeless
people every year.”
Crystal Wolfe, founder and president of Catering for the Homeless, and Councilman Daniel Dromm
signing her DOE petition. Photo by Angélica Acevedo