February 18, 2015

From snow and ice to low temperatures and freezing rain, the weather in New York City has been unrelenting this winter. Luckily, in addition to our regular weekend deliveries, Citymeals has been there to provide homebound elderly New Yorkers with a sense of security – a vital lifeline of nutritious food and someone to check on their safety – during holidays and emergencies this season.

To ensure our meal recipients would be nourished during the long Presidents Day weekend, Citymeals distributed 14,360 packages – each containing three shelf-stable meals – well in advance of the holiday as well as more than 6,403 prepared meals. As a final push to provide meals to all of our homebound elderly neighbors for Presidents Day, 90 generous volunteers – including individuals, corporate groups and young professionals – hand-delivered 320 shelf-stable meal boxes last week. 

In addition to providing holiday meals, Citymeals has made sure our meal recipients’ shelves are always stocked in times when winter weather makes it difficult for even the most mobile recipients to leave their homes. Between January 25th and 26th, our warehouse staff distributed 7,870 emergency boxes to centers throughout New York City in preparation for Winter Storm Juno. Each center distributed the meal packages to vulnerable older New Yorkers well before the worst of the storm hit on Monday evening. As forecasters predicted even more snowfall during the following weekend, Citymeals delivered 4,900 more emergency boxes.

Since the end of January, Citymeals delivered a total of 87,793 holiday and emergency meals. We will continue to prepare frail aged New Yorkers this winter, but please make sure to check on your older neighbors in the coming weeks.