Hunger Knows No Recession

Almost every day New Yorkers pass by someone asking for money, in the subway, on the sidewalk, in the park. Homelessness, hunger and persistent poverty are so visible we sometimes literally trip over the poor. Most of us look the other way not because we don’t care, but because solutions to these problems seem overwhelming. More than a million people are hungry and can’t afford to buy food in New York – and that’s why Camino PR was honored to take on a client at the forefront of both alleviating hunger and offering real and compassionate help that creates a path out of poverty.

Camino client Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP) provides millions of groceries and meals each year as the largest single site for alleviating hunger in New York. But the YCP mission is not only to provide emergency food for a family, it is also to provide the realistic and compassionate care that families need to move out of poverty. Check out this video of Halana Richardson talking about YCP– it’s worth taking a few minutes to hear her story to understand the complexity of hunger in America.

As the job market worsens, YCP estimates that it will have a sharp increase of 19% in the number of people who face hunger in the coming year. Camino PR’s Andrea Hagelgans and Pablo Toledo went to YCP to help them tell their story to NBC News for a special on hunger in America. Here’s a behind-the-scenes clip of the filming.

Behind The Scenes with The Yorkville Common Pantry from Camino PR on Vimeo.

YCP is New York City’s unique provider of assistance to the hungry, including providing more groceries and meals at a single site than any other program, and helping people become more economically stable by offering assistance with obtaining food stamps and housing, preparing for employment with basic services like showers and job counseling, among other practical and compassionate services. They even provide cooking classes to make help people eat healthy and stretch food stamp dollars. Camino PR was thrilled to partner with a community organization that takes a holistic and compassionate approach to hunger.

YCP won the prestigious Robin Hood Heroes award this month, which includes a $50,000 grant. That’s a huge honor, but more donations are needed to meet the skyrocketing need for basic food assistance. According to Stephen Grimaldi, executive director of YCP, “in this dismal economic climate many families throughout New York City face a bare table. Families of all means should be able to celebrate the holidays without choosing between paying rent or buying food.”

This holiday season consider supporting Yorkville Common Pantry or local food banks in your area.