Days after Thanksgiving in 1981, Gael Greene, restaurant critic for New York magazine, read a newspaper article about homebound elderly New Yorkers not having anything to eat on weekends or holidays. Deeply disturbed, she called an equally upset James Beard – the renowned chef and cooking teacher – and they reached out to their friends and colleagues for help. After raising $35,000, Gael contacted the New York City Department for the Aging to express her righteous anger and announce they had raised funds to serve Christmas dinner that year. Gael had no sense where that gesture would lead. “I was totally naive. I had no idea it would become what it is today.”
What began with a group of like-minded individuals and a historic public-private partnership serving 6,000 frail aged New Yorkers that first Christmas has matured into an organization preparing and delivering over 2 million meals to more than 18,000 of our isolated older neighbors each year.
Vice Chair
Joseph M. Cohen**
Co-Presidents
Daniel Boulud
Robert S. Grimes
Vice PresidentS
Suri Kasirer
Margo M. Nederlander
Lisa Rosenblum
Lizzie Tisch
Secretary/Treasurer
Richard E. Piluso
Assistant Secretary
Mathew Glazier, Esq.
Members of the Board
Byron C. Athans
Daniel D. Bartfeld
Aliyyah Baylor
Albert P. Behler
Derek Blasberg
Alison Lohrfink Blood
Samantha Boardman, M.D.
Gerry Byrne Diana Carone
Jim Carter
Anne Cohen**
Julie Daum
Randy Fishman
Colleen Goggins
Jane Gol
Aaron M. Goldman
Alan R. Grossman
Yusi Gurrera
Mark Gusinov
Richard Krawiec Kenny Lane
Drew Nieporent
Charles Palmer
John Pomerantz
Dennis Riese
David Rockwell
Janet K. Rodgers
John Shapiro
Danielle Smith Steven Soutendijk
William T. Speck, M.D.**
Galia Meiri Stawski
Marcia Stein*
Christina Steinbrenner
Kathleen Turner
Nick Valenti
Teri Volpert
Patricia Wexler, M.D.
Michael White
Honorary Board Members
Nicholas D’Agostino III Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
Maggi Landau**
Edward Lewis
Alan Stillman
Dee Topol
Joan H. Weill**
Roger Yaseen
Executive Director
Beth Shapiro
In Memoriam
Joe Baum
James Beard
Ruth Finley
Helen Hayes
Miriam Israels
Eleanor Lambert
Michael Lynne
Jessye Norman
Lewis Rudin
Janet Sainer
Joan H. Tisch
Preston Robert Tisch**
Donald G. Tober
Pauline Trigère
Lillian Vernon
Meal recipient Gretty's son tragically only lived a few years. Gretty took solace in becoming a kind of adoptive mother to children in the neighborhood, cooking their meals and getting them ready for school. Read more
CITYMEALS HAS DELIVERED 63 MILLION NUTRITIOUS MEALS SINCE 1981. LEARN MORE
100% of your donation will be used for the preparation and delivery of meals, thanks to our partnership with the New York City Department for the Aging, along with gifts from our board of directors and others designated for administrative expenses.
