NYC - Lending a Hand to Transfernation: Solving Hunger in New York City
All too often I find myself walking past a homeless person on the street wishing I knew some way to help them. Or I will pass a half-eaten pizza in a box in the trash and think of the pounds of food we waste in NYC every day. These thoughts pass in and out of my mind quickly as I go about my normal routine and little, if any, action is ever taken. I imagine that this is true for most of us and not because we don’t truly want to help out those less fortunate and improve the streets of NYC. Perhaps we don’t know a way to help or maybe we find excuses for not going down to that homeless shelter (“Well the A train was running with significant delays…”).
One Sunday a few weeks ago, I challenged myself to change that. I had signed up to volunteer with Transfernation and had previously received emails about pick-up opportunities. On this particular day, there was a pick-up still outstanding for midday and no one had volunteered. Was I near the location? Definitely not. Would I have preferred to go to Sunday brunch? Yes (guilty). Instead, I headed down to NYU and, with the assistance of a helpful kitchen worker, loaded up 210 lbs of food from an event into a cab and headed to the Bowery Mission on the LES. I must admit- I’ve never seen so many boxes of bagels in my life. The Mission was serving lunch at the time and it was such a great feeling knowing that even my small effort was going towards feeding the hungry. A couple hours are all it takes - the same amount of time we spend watching Netflix, waiting on Seamless - but the impact lasts far longer.
Transfernation aims to create a tech-based, self-sufficient infrastructure to connect organizations to ensure easy and safe transport of food to where it is needed. To find out more information about the NYC Chapter Charity Partner Transfernation, visit their website here
--Megan, Whisky Wisemen NYC Finance and Charity Officer