CUNY Interactive Journalism

The East side of Manhattan may sound like a tony place filled with apartments in the sky, but there are thousands of New Yorkers along the entire stretch who need help getting enough food to survive. The help comes in the form of receiving food stamps, shopping the free supplies of food pantries or going to the traditional soup kitchens. There are an array of these free food providers down the length of Manhattan’s East side and over 1,200 of them throughout New York City.  According to New York City Coalition Against Hunger, these outlets feed over 1.4 million New Yorkers who can’t afford food city-wide.

This year, as usual, there will be thousands of people who can’t afford to buy their own Thanksgiving meals lined up at the dozens of soup kitchens on the East side and a small army of holiday volunteers who want to serve them.  There are so many Thanksgiving volunteers at New York soup kitchens, they can actually be turned away.  One of the largest East side providers of free Thanksgiving meals is the Bowery Mission, whose volunteer slots are full.  But, there are dozens more soup kitchens and several other organizations who deliver food to those in need like City Meals on Wheelsfor seniors or God’s Love We Deliver for HIV/AIDS patients.

For anyone interested in volunteering to help low-income, senior or ailing East siders get a hot meal any day of the year, here’s a map with the places to go from Murray Hill to East Harlem.  Many of these organizations also service other parts of New York City.

View East Side Food Charities in a larger map