Contact: Trish Anderton, Director of Public Relations, Goddard Riverside tanderton@goddard.org | (m) 929-249-1449
New York, NY (November 23, 2023)— More than a thousand helpings of turkey, cranberry sauce, veggies and gravy were served as Goddard Riverside celebrated Thanksgiving with its annual community meal. Hundreds of people ate together at tables in the dining room while volunteers brought meals to hundreds more at homes on the Upper West Side. Thanks to Goddard’s many donors and supporters, anyone can enjoy a meal for free.
Starting hours before the feast, volunteers chopped mountains of herbs and vegetables and carefully arranged the floral centerpieces on the tables. In the kitchen, they carved turkey after turkey in preparation for the lunchtime rush.
Some who came to eat were homeless; others were formerly unhoused residents of our nearby supportive housing residences or members of other Goddard programs. Our neighbors came too, including some who’ve been joining us for decades. All enjoyed a hot meal and a welcoming place to spend the holiday.
Goddard Riverside has provided a free Thanksgiving meal for more than 30 years, and also welcomes the community for a hot dinner on Christmas day. More than 300 volunteers cooked, plated, packed, served and delivered. In the process they used 580 pounds of sweet potatoes, 38 gallons of cranberry sauce and 1,100 cups of stuffing.
The Holiday Meals are just a small part of the commitment by Goddard Riverside and our partners at the Isaacs Center to fight hunger across Upper Manhattan. Together we operate four Older Adult Centers that offer healthy lunches for a small voluntary contribution. We deliver Meals on Wheels to large swathes of Northern Manhattan. Our programs for young people, including Early Childhood Education and After School, provide healthy food to all participants.
In this era of rising rents and grocery bills, hunger is a serious issue facing too many New Yorkers. A new report from Robin Hood and Columbia University finds that food pantry use among families with children has doubled since the start of the COVID pandemic—18 percent in 2023 as opposed to 9 percent in 2019. Pantry use among working New Yorkers is also twice as high at 11 percent.
“Hunger is a foundational issue,” said Goddard Riverside and Isaacs Center President Roderick L. Jones, who attended Thanksgiving at Goddard. “Children cannot thrive in school and adults cannot focus on work and family life if their stomachs are empty. We work hard to fill bellies, but we alone can’t end hunger; we as a state and a nation need to decide to end hunger. We can do it—if we choose to.”
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Goddard Riverside strives toward a fair and just society where all people can make choices that lead to better lives for themselves and their families. Our programs serve more than 20,000 people annually, preparing children and youth for success; supporting self-sufficiency; enriching the lives of older adults; promoting behavioral health; fighting homelessness; and strengthening families and communities.