While much of the city shuttered this year, our home-delivered meals have continued without interruption. Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Citymeals has delivered over 2 million meals to our frail aged neighbors – 800,000 more than during the same time period last year.
As the designated emergency responder for the city’s seniors, it is not only our regular meal recipients who have come to depend on us. For many older New Yorkers, a trip to the grocery store or food pantry is simply too risky. Others relied on breakfast and lunch from their local senior centers which remain closed. Now isolated at home, many vulnerable elderly face the prospect of going hungry.
Citymeals has provided emergency shelf-stable meals for more than 50,000 older New Yorkers, both those already on delivery routes prior to March 2020 and those newly at risk for hunger with the onset of the pandemic, many living in senior or public housing. Even now, demand for meals remains nearly 40% higher than it was a year ago.
Today, Citymeals is providing home-delivered meals for weekends, holidays and emergencies to nearly 20,000 of the city’s most vulnerable population, including 2,500 of our elderly neighbors who have been added to regular delivery routes since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
Even before the state stay-at-home order, our warehouse staff were working at a breakneck pace to pack and delivery emergency meals.
Nearly 7,000 volunteers have joined our dedicated staff on the frontlines to ensure meal deliveries continue uninterrupted.For the homebound elderly, who are too frail to shop or cook for themselves, these deliveries provide critical nutrition and a regular wellness check-in.
What’s going on is just terrible. Thank you so much for checking in. It gets pretty lonely here.
– Millie, 94-year-old Citymeals recipient
Even before Covid-19, our meal recipients were isolated. Now they are more vulnerable than ever. Hear from some of them about how the pandemic is impacting their lives.
Chef Daniel Boulud and his team prepare meals for distribution to Citymeals recipients across the city.
To get a Covid-19 vaccine, you can call 1-877-VAX-4-NYC or 1-877-829-4692 to make an appointment by phone or visit https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov to find a location near you and schedule your appointment.
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.