Cover Story: Filling the Void

Plus, the economic crisis hit during the organization’s most critical fundraising season, from October to December. In December, food donations were down 25 percent from the previous year and direct-mail donations were off by 14 percent.

Food Bank For New York City provides more than 50 million pounds of food annually to more than 1,000 food-assistance programs throughout Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. The organization experienced a 40 percent decrease in total food donations in the third quarter of 2008, while a Marist Poll commissioned by the organization and released in December showed that 48 percent of all New York City residents reported having difficulty affording food and 2 million people in New York City who had never before accessed emergency food services worried about needing food assistance in 2009.