‘Crossing this milestone is bittersweet – a mark of what the government and civic sector can accomplish…but also a sad reminder that too many people were hungry before this crisis exacerbated the situation, and too many are still hungry today.’
‘I know hunger is not new. But over the last six months in the New York City metro area it has become worse and there are easy ways that those of us with more than we need can move from awareness to action.’
From local pols to community leaders, volunteers to residents, no one believes things are getting much better in the neighborhood now, months into the pandemic.
It’s been more than seven months since New York started coronavirus lockdown measures, and just as the crisis itself has shifted and evolved over time, so too have the informal networks of volunteers and neighbors working to help one another endure it.
Queues of Latino residents waited recently outside a community center in Corona to collect food and fruit. The line extended for two blocks.
But the number of SNAP participants in the city keeps falling. That could reflect good news about the economy, the impact of federal benefit cuts or the persistence at the city level of obstacles to families getting the help they need.