Food and Philanthropy

So for me, food is always fashionable. And here's a quick shout out to my friends and readers in New York City. This Sunday, March 8th support Time Out for Hunger where a selection of Time Out New York's favorite restaurants will donate 10% of a day's proceeds to the Food Bank for New York City. Last year 90 restaurants (including those in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island) helped provide over 170,000 free meals for New Yorkers in need. So if you're in New York and planning to eat out this Sunday, check out the participating restaurants.

If you prefer to stay in and cook these days, stock up your fridge and pantry while supporting the Food Bank for New York City at the same time. On March 11th, Whole Foods Markets throughout New York City will donate 5% of net sales to the Food Bank. Find the Whole Foods Market store nearest you.

Throughout the five boroughs, approximately 1.3 million New Yorkers - mostly women, children, seniors, the working poor and people with disabilities - rely on soup kitchens and food pantries. In addition, the number of New Yorkers experiencing difficulty affording food for themselves and their families has doubled to approximately 4 million since 2003. The Food Bank of New York City procures and distributes food to a network of approximately 1,000 food assistance programs citywide. In addition, they provide food safety and capacity-building workshops; manage school nutrition education programs, after-school and emergency food programs; conduct food stamp prescreening and outreach; operate a Senior Food Program and a soup kitchen and food pantry; coordinate the largest Free Tax Assistance Program in the country; and develop policy and conduct research to inform community and government efforts to end food poverty throughout New York City.

So you can dine out or dine in; but, either way you'll be donating to a worthy cause.