Feeding New Yorkers in Need

The Red Door Place (RDP) offers emergency food assistance, resources, referrals and other support to anyone who shows up at its recognizable red doors at the corner of 13th Street and 7th Avenue in lower Manhattan. RDP’s mission is to eliminate hunger in New York City and provide low-income New Yorkers with the resources and support they need to move out of poverty. RDP currently hosts a "grab & go" food pantry every Tuesday and a free, freshly-cooked community meal every Saturday, serving families from across all five boroughs and neighboring states every week.

With the rising cost of living and the recent arrival of thousands of asylum seekers, demand for our services has reached new records. Pre-pandemic,  there were about 350 visitors per week, on average, using our Food Pantry service on Tuesdays. The numbers have risen steadily from about 400 per week in May, to a new all-time high of 782 on Tuesday November 1, 2022.

RDP's already thin resources are even thinner. The rising cost of food also impacts our providers and what we are able to procure with the same budget. Emergency pandemic funding has now ceased, although the wider impact of the pandemic is still evident and our numbers are now far greater than  pre-pandemic days. With your generous support, we hope to ensure that everyone that turns up this Winter, receives a nutritious food pantry kit designed to feed a family of four for a week.

Once we have met our fundraising goal, RDP will go shopping! RDP will be able to purchase fresh food items beyond the staple items normally offered at food pantries. RDP has an established network of reliable food suppliers that will fulfil our additional orders. The food items will be added to our stock and distributed in food pantry bags on Tuesdays.

This fundraising effort will allow RDP to secure additional nutritious food and pantry items to make sure we meet the current demand for our services.

Food insecurity can have a wide impact, depending on each individual’s circumstances*. Some of the most common, yet complex, effects of food insecurity include:

• Serious health complications, especially when people facing hunger are forced to choose between spending money on food and medicine or medical care
• Damage to a child’s ability to learn and grow
• Difficult decisions such as choosing between paying for food and heat, electricity, rent, and transportation

*https://www.feedingamerica.org

Fighting food insecurity is core to RDP's mission. RDP's Executive Director and Head of Programs, Teresa Concepción provides exceptional operational leadership for RDP and its programs. She has deep ties to the community and is passionate about her work and making a difference to thousands of New Yorkers in need. RDP's volunteer crew is largely comprised of a regular, highly capable core group, that over time, have become very familiar with not only the operations, but more importantly, with the clients we serve. This commitment is a reflection of the tremendous sense of community and goodwill Teresa has built in her time at the RDP.

We want to help as many people as we can, particularly over the holiday season. We're doing this because we care and we know you do too.