For years, I was a teacher in the Bronx. Then one day I ran into my student, Justin, on my way to the subway. He was standing next to a woman digging out of the trash. I was concerned, so I asked him about it at school the next day. ""That's my grandmother. It's normal."" Hearing those words from Justin changed my life. I learned that 1 out of 4 of my students was skipping meals or going hungry. And I started on a path that would end up in Grassroots Grocery.
Every Saturday, we have 150-200 volunteers from all over the city come out to a parking lot in the Bronx, for our family-friendly Produce Party. They spend their morning unloading, repackaging, and distributing fresh food to our community partners all around the Bronx. We have haulers, sorters, drivers... Some of the teens have been volunteering with us for years and are now running the show.
The people that come out to help feed their neighbors are, to me, what the best of New York City is about. We get church groups, synagogues, mosques. People of all races, creeds, and nationalities. We do it because there's a need. If we don't take action, who will?
Every Saturday, we have 150-200 volunteers from all over the city come out to a parking lot in the Bronx, for our family-friendly Produce Party. They spend their morning unloading, repackaging, and distributing fresh food to our community partners all around the Bronx. We have haulers, sorters, drivers... Some of the teens have been volunteering with us for years and are now running the show.
The people that come out to help feed their neighbors are, to me, what the best of New York City is about. We get church groups, synagogues, mosques. People of all races, creeds, and nationalities. We do it because there's a need. If we don't take action, who will?
