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Friday, March 29, 2024

Food Truck Provides 2,700 Free Lunches to NYC Children in Underserved Neighborhoods

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A boy receiving his free kosher lunch, courtesy of Met Council, the Jewish Education Project, and the NYC Dept. of Education.Met Council, the Jewish Education Project and the NYC Department of Education join forces to fight child hunger

The end of summer typically symbolizes a few more days of fun and freedom for children. However, many families in our local communities find this to be a time in which it is extremely difficult to provide nutritious meals for their families.

Thanks to an exciting partnership between Met Council, the Jewish Education Project, the NYC Department of Education, in collaboration with the UJO of Williamsburg and the JCC of Boro Park, 2,700 free kosher meals were given to local children.

This four day pilot program, supported in-part by a private foundation, brought meals on wheels to children in underserved areas of Williamsburg and Boro Park. In an effort to reach as many children as possible, the mobile food truck was parked in convenient local areas. Employees handed out pre-packaged nutritious lunches directly off the mobile unit to children under the age of 18.

“Met Council continues to look for new and innovative ways to outreach to the underserved and those without the wherewithal to find us,” said Met Council CEO William E. Rapfogel. “Thanks to this exciting partnership, we were able to reach hundreds of children who might have otherwise gone without a nutritious meal because they are out of school for the summer and their families are struggling to afford basic necessities.”

It is evident that an extreme need exists in these areas, as this pilot program set a city record of distributing the greatest number of allotted meals for a particular site in 20 minutes. The NYC Department of Education is currently exploring the expansion of their current SchoolFood program with the ultimate goal of reaching more children than ever before.

About Met Council

Met Council is one of New York’s largest human services agencies, providing 100,000 New Yorkers with critical services in their fight against poverty every year. Since 1972, Met Council has been an advocate and defender for New Yorkers in need, and has raised awareness around the growing problem of Jewish poverty. With services ranging from domestic violence counseling to kosher food pantries to career training, Met Council helps individuals find lasting solutions to poverty. Learn more at www.metcouncil.org.

About The Jewish Education Project

The Jewish Education Project (formerly BJENY-SAJES) sparks and spreads innovations that expand the reach and increase the impact of Jewish education. We empower the next generation of Jews in Westchester, New York City and Long Island to live as active engaged members of the Jewish community. We are proud to have been selected by Slingshot ‘11 –‘12 as one of North America’s 50 most innovative Jewish nonprofit agencies. The Jewish Education Project is a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation.

 

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