May 15, 2015

The majority of our meal recipients – more than 65% – are women. Once the center of their families, these women cooked meals, cleaned house and cared for children, often while maintaining full-time jobs. They managed households through lean years, made sacrifices and gave a lifetime of love to their families and communities.

These women deserve to be remembered for their valuable contributions to our great city, but sadly, most of them are now alone. Over 50% are widowed and more than 29% never married or are currently single – and many of them do not see anyone other than their meal deliverer each day.

Mother’s Day can be particularly lonely for our meal recipients who are mothers. Many of them don’t live near their children, or they may have even outlived them. Citymeals helps remind them they haven’t been forgotten by delivering warm notes and handmade cards created by our kindhearted supporters. This year we delivered nearly 2,500 notes and cards alongside our Mother’s Day meals.

For more than a decade, Citymeals has partnered with the New York City real estate community to raise funds for Mother’s Day. In what has become a springtime tradition, Citymeals Board Members Albert Behler of the Paramount Group, Inc., Alan Grossman of ARG Realty Consultants, Ltd. and Robert K. Futterman of RKF spearheaded this initiative. This year our supporters in the industry raised more than $250,000 for Citymeals, enough to prepare and deliver 39,000 nutritious meals.