New York City Summer Meals Outreach Efforts Making A Difference
Posted by Marisa Tyresky on Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Editor’s Note: All summer, Share Our Strength staff will be visiting summer meals sites across the country to show our work in action. This post is part of that series. To learn more about Summer Meals, visit strength.org/summer.
Earlier in the month, New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott joined our own Bill Shore at P.S. 20, The Anna Silver School, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to kick off an aggressive campaign to raise awareness about summer meals programs in the City. The effort, which was part of the New York City No Kid Hungry campaign, brought together a diverse coalition that included representatives from the Mayor’s Office of the City of New York, The New York City Department of Education, District Council 37, Citizens Committee for Children, City Harvest, New York City Coalition Against Hunger, and The Food Bank for New York City. But this event was only the start.
Early Saturday morning I joined over a hundred New York City volunteers at the packed Rescue Mission for a summer meals outreach day organized by Share our Strength. We received canvas bags with information to disperse and heard from the Department of Education, the Mayor’s office, the Borough President’s office, Joel Berg from NYCCAH, Food Network President Brooke Johnson, and Share Our Strength’s Jenny Dirksen. Speakers thanked us for volunteering our time and energy towards making certain kids and parents know about summer meals programs and helping ensure kids receive regular, nutritious meals throughout the summer months. Energy among canvassers built as they received instructions for the day. Moments later, the room was empty and the streets were filled with bright orange No Kid Hungry sunglasses and tan NYC Coalition Against Hunger caps as volunteers set out for the day.
I joined a team with three high school students from China, currently residing in the NYC area; a few young NYC natives; and a young woman who was fairly new to the city. We headed towards SoHo ready to disperse our information. We delivered posters and flyers to libraries, shops, and individuals. Our encounters required us to be persistent, creative and even use multiple languages. One interaction even ended with a kiss on a canvasser’s hand! Most people were happy to receive the new information and our work definitely made a difference.
By the end of the afternoon, volunteers had reached all five boroughs and handed out 90,000 pieces of literature, which is in addition to the 900,000 pieces of literature that has already been distributed through city agencies.
Both events were a great way to experience a thriving relationship between government agencies, non-profits and individuals. It was a true example of Share Our Strength’s mission to build both public and private partnerships. After meeting so many fascinating and passionate people, I think it is time to add “personal partnerships” to that list, too!
RELATED LINKS:
— Learn more about Share Our Strength’s Summer Meals work
— Help Support Summer Meals Work
July 19, 2011 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: nyc, summer meals
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