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CITYMEALS ON WHEELS DELIVERS MORE THAN 16,000 CHRISTMAS MEALS TO HOMEBOUND ELDERLY NEW YORKERS ON CHRISTMAS MORNING

Nearly 300 Volunteers Help Ensure the City’s Most Vulnerable Receive a Nourishing Meal and Friendly Check-In on the Holiday

December 25, 2022 — New York, NY – This Christmas, Citymeals on Wheels prepared and delivered more than 16,000 holiday meals to homebound elderly New Yorkers, spreading holiday cheer to the City’s most vulnerable residents. Nearly 300 Citymeals volunteers spent the morning delivering those festive meals directly to the doors of their older neighbors, reminding them they are not forgotten on the holiday. 

“For four decades, Citymeals has nourished the bodies and souls of homebound elderly New Yorkers. Today, hundreds of dedicated volunteers are delivering festive meals and checking in on their older neighbors across the city, who would otherwise spend the day alone,” said Citymeals on Wheels Executive Director Beth Shapiro. “Forty years ago, our first Christmas meals were made possible by Citymeals’ founder Gael Greene. And thanks to our partners, like the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center and others, we’ve become woven into the fabric of the city.”

This year’s Christmas deliveries mark the end of Citymeals’ 40th anniversary year. The organization was founded in 1981, when legendary food critic Gael Greene read an article describing the plight of homebound elderly New Yorkers, who went without food on weekends and holidays when the city’s home-delivered meal program was closed. Gael immediately contacted friends in the restaurant community and raised $35,000 to deliver meals that Christmas. Forty years later, Citymeals has delivered over 67 million meals and become the largest nonprofit meals on wheels program in the country. In November of this year, Gael Greene passed away.

Today, Citymeals is serving nearly 20,000 meal recipients across the city, during a time of growing food insecurity and hunger. Among those Citymeals serves:

  • All recipients are over 60 and disabled by chronic conditions such as vision loss, diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease.
  • More than half of recipients are over 80 years old; nearly 20% are over 90 years old, and more than 400 have lived over a century.
  • The majority of meal recipients live alone, 40% rarely or never leave their homes and 8% have no one with whom they can talk on a regular basis, other than their meal deliverer.
  • 14% of recipients live on just the one meal a day the organization delivers.

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About Citymeals on Wheels

Citymeals on Wheels (citymeals.org) provides a continuous lifeline of nourishing meals and vital companionship to nearly 20,000 homebound elderly New Yorkers. Working in partnership with community-based organizations and senior centers, Citymeals prepared and delivered nearly 2 million weekend, holiday, and emergency meals last year. Last year, nearly 19,000 volunteers gave more than 52,000 hours of time to Citymeals’ mission.

Since its founding in 1981, Citymeals has relied on the generosity of its Board of Directors, the City of New York, sponsors, and other designated gifts to cover administrative costs. This ensures that 100% of all public donations will be used entirely to prepare and deliver meals.

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