NYC Coalition Against Hunger

Serving all five boroughs, The New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) works to meet the needs of the hungry locally, while finding long-term solutions to help low-income families move beyond the soup kitchen on the national level.

In 1983, hunger in New York City had become nearly unbearable, it was then that The NYCCAH was founded. While many soup kitchens and food pantries could provide relief temporarily, it became abundantly clear that hunger on the whole could not be solved in the city. When community leaders from all five boroughs met they realized that the best way to tackle hunger was to unite and provide a unified service for soup kitchens and food pantries, while working on long-term solutions to solve food-insecurity.

While much of the NYCCAH programing assists NYC families in enrolling in food stamp programs, supporting community agriculture and providing technical assistance for food pantries, they realize that charity is not a long-term solution. Ending the root problems that cause food-insecurity is vital, which makes their work with lobby officials and the government valuable not only to food-insecure New Yorkers, but all food-insecure Americans.

In practice, The NYCCAH works with lobby officials and the government to marginally increase their programs that will then send positive ripples in the food-insecure community. By working to increase the minimum wage, The NYCCAH hopes to give more people the ability to afford food. The long-term goal is to enable more Americans to feed their families through living wage jobs than through government assistance.