1. Donate Funds to Food Banks and Pantries
Cash donations are often the most impactful as large organizations can purchase items in bulk at a discount, making your dollars go further. Brooklyn-Specific or Local Organizations:
CHIPS (Community Help in Park Slope): A community kitchen & food pantry serving breakfast and lunch.
The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH): A Brooklyn-based anti-hunger non-profit with food distribution, urban farming, and other services. They have a Brooklyn Online Pantry.
Neighbors Together Brooklyn (in Ocean Hill, Brownsville, and Ocean Hill-Brownsville): Supports residents with a community kitchen and food pantry.
2. Support Mutual Aid and Hyper-Local Efforts
These groups have a pulse on the needs of the neighborhoods they serve, often providing direct, immediate community support
- Mutual Aid Groups: Connect with local Brooklyn mutual aid groups that focus on food assistance and resource sharing.
- "Grocery Buddy" Programs: Some online buy-nothing groups or community forums facilitate matching people who can afford to pay for a neighbor's groceries.
- Community Fridges: Find a local community fridge in Brooklyn (often on a website like Fridge Finder or a local Mutual Aid Hub) to donate fresh, perishable, or non-perishable food items directly to the community.
3. Volunteer Your Time
Food pantries (Like CHiPS and Camp Friendship) and community kitchens will likely see an increase in demand and may need extra hands for packing and distribution.
- Contact Local Pantries: Call or check the websites of Brooklyn food pantries to see if they need volunteers or specific donated items other than food that are not covered by SNAP, such as diapers, personal care items, and menstrual products.
4. Engage with Schools
Schools often serve as a critical safety net for families, especially parents.
- School Pantries and Meal Programs: Check with your local schools to see if they have or are starting emergency food pantries, backpack meal programs for weekends/breaks, or if they need donations for existing programs.
Here are some Local Orgs Helping alleviate this food insecurity:
Center for Family Life (Sunset Park)
443 39th Street, 1st floor, Brooklyn, NY
929-480-7175
Bethany Food Pantry (SCO Family Services, Bushwick)
164 Suydam St, Brooklyn
718.574.6300
Mixteca Organization, Inc. (Community Gridge, Sunset Park)
245 23rd Street, 2nd floor, Brooklyn NY 11215
Contact Info:Ms Lorena Kourousias
(718) 896-5479
lkouousias@mixteca.org
CHIPS (Community Help in Park Slope
200 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217
Camp Friendship (Park Slope)
339 8th Street, Brooklyn NY 11215
Contact Info: Ms Soni Saluja
(646) 591-5635
soninder@gmail.com
Gowanus Community Fridge
Happy Cleaners - Hoyt St betw 3rd & 4th Sts
Postmark Cafe - 326 6th St
Van Alen Institute Fridge (Carroll Gardens)
303 Bond Street
One Love Community Fridges
Various locations around Brooklyn
KWT Mutual Aid little free pantry (non-perishables, Kensington/Windsor Terrace)
E. 4th Street, between Fort Hamilton Parkway and Caton Avenue (near Jaya Yoga)
People in Need (PIN) (Kensington)
food pantry
766 Coney Island Avenue, between Cortelyou Road and Ditmas Avenue
Church of the Holy Apostles (Windsor Terrace)
little free pantry
612 Greenwood Avenue, between Prospect Avenue and E. 7th Street
Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church (Kensington)
food pantry
245 Prospect Park West, between Prospect Avenue and Windsor Place
Brooklyn Islamic Center (Prospect Park Southwest)
halal food pantry
722 Church Avenue, between E. 7th and E. 8th streets
Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (Windsor Terrace)
food pantry
2805 Fort Hamilton Parkway, between E. 4th and E. 5th streets
Flatbush Jewish Center (Flatbush)
mobile food pantry
327 E. 5th Street, between Church Avenue and Beverley Road
MASS (Mutual Aid and Scientific Socialism) (Kensington)
hot food and grocery distribution
Kensington Plaza, 118 Beverley Road, between E. 2nd Street and McDonald Avenue
Little Free Pantry (Kensington)
E. 5th Street, a quarter of a block north of Church Avenue
Christ Apostolic Church (Kensington)
food pantry
622 Cortelyou Road, between E. 7th Street and Ocean Parkway
B-ShERT: Beth Shalom v’Emeth Reform Temple (Prospect Park Southwest)
community fridge and little free pantry
83 Marlborough Road, corner of Church Avenue
PAYO (Pakistani American Youth Organization) (West Midwood)
Food pantry
Call to register
1045 Coney Island Avenue, between Foster Avenue and Glenwood Road
COPO (Council of Peoples Organization) (Midwood)
halal food pantry, mobile halal food pantry, halal Meals-on-Wheels |
1277 Coney Island Avenue
Church of the Holy Spirit (Borough Park)
food pantry
1712 45th Street, between 17th Avenue and Dahill Road
Masbia of Flatbush (Flatbush)
hot meals served, food pantry
1372 Coney Island Avenue, between avenues J and K
Masbia of Boro Park (Boro Park)
hot meals served, food pantry (appointment required for pantry distributions)
5402 New Utrecht Avenue, between 54th and 55th streets
Further Resources:
How to Help Food-Insecure Families.
NYC.gov’s List of Food Pantries
Other ways to give back
CHIPS (Community Help in Park Slope)
200 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217
Instead of a food drive for Thanksgiving (because everyone does food drives and we're lucky to usually have enough in that department), a supply drive would be great. Here's the Food Service Amazon Wishlist, which is more up to date and represents our needs on any given week.
We will be distributing gloves, hats, scarves and winter socks the week of Thanksgiving, so a collection of those items would be awesome. We don't have the capacity or room to sort used items, so only new items please.
Thanksgiving notes for the 200 thanksgiving pantry bags going to those in need: Due Date: 11/18
200 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217 (between Sackett and Degraw)
Heights and Hills
Make Happy Thanksgiving cards (for older adults receiving meals with Heights and Hills)!
Be creative and make your card beautiful!
Please do follow these simple guidelines for your card(s):
- DO write clearly and use large block letters with bright backgrounds
• DO keep your message simple and uplifting (and non-religious)
• DO sign the card with your first name (and age for kids) (no other identifying information please)
• DO make your card colorful, bright and cheerful & try to leave as little blank space as possible.
HAVE FUN with it!
Folks can deliver their cards three different ways:
- Via snail mail to the Heights and Hills office - 81 Willoughby Street—Suite 302 Brooklyn, NY 11201 with arrival before 11/25
- Drop off to the Heights and Hills office - 81 Willoughby Street—Suite 302 Brooklyn, NY 11201 by Tuesday 11/25
- Drop off in Brooklyn Heights - Wednesday, 11/26, between noon and 5 pm at Grace Church 254 Hicks Street Brooklyn Heights, 11201
Thanksgiving Morning Meal Delivery – Drivers Needed
God’s Love We Deliver
Date/Time: Thursday, November 27
Location: Various distribution locations city-wide.
Ages: All ages are welcome to participate with an adult.
Time Commitment: Varies.
Every day at God’s Love We Deliver, the organization relies on an army of dedicated volunteers to prepare and deliver meals to our homebound elderly and ailing neighbors. On Thanksgiving morning, they need even more help – and volunteers with cars are in demand. Thanksgiving is an extra special time at God’s Love We Deliver as we prepare and deliver festive Thanksgiving meals and gift totes to clients we serve throughout the year. As a Volunteer Driver, you will use your own vehicle to deliver meals to clients, typically to between six and eight households. Staff and on-site volunteers will help you check in and provide you with a delivery manifest and delivery instructions, as well as client meals and client household gift totes. Learn more at https://www.glwd.org/volunteer/holidays-special-events/
Contact: volunteer@glwd.org or 212.294.8158. Registration is available online. You must create an account online in order to register.
