Thanks to the Boss

The New York City Coalition Against Hunger owes an enormous thanks to the one and only Bruce Springsteen. The Boss not only donated tickets for his two New York City concerts to the Coalition to auction off, he also had Coalition staff collect money during both nights in New York City. Mr. Springsteen made an announcement from the stage about World Hunger Year and the Coalition Against Hunger and the need to help fight hunger and poverty in New York City. The Coalition thanks him for his generosity and for his invaluable help in the fight against hunger. See the Boss's set list from his New York City concerts with blurbs about WHY and the Coalition here.

Empty Shelves for NYC Food Providers

Soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City are feeling the strain of not having enough food to feed all the hungry people in need. Brooklyn as the borough with the largest population and the largest number of needy people is particularly strained for resources. The Daily News highlighted the dire situation at two different emergency food providers in Brooklyn. In the last year, 52% of Brooklyn food providers have run out of food at least once. Those in need either just miss the qualifications for food stamps, or only receive enough food stamp benefits to provide meals for 2-3 weeks and then have to resort to food pantries.

Senator Schumer Calls For Urgent Passage of 2007 Farm Bill

With New York City food programs facing food and funding shortages, Senator Charles Schumer held a press conference yesterday calling for urgent passage of the 2007 Farm Bill - legislation that would greatly increase food stamp benefits and funding to urban food programs. The Coalition Against Hunger's executive director, Joel Berg, joined Senator Schumer at Yorkville Common Pantry to press for increased federal funding of the vital programs that help to feed the over 1.3 million hungry New Yorkers. Senator Schumer vowed to push for increased funding for food banks and for a $5 million increase to Food Stamps. See Senator Schumer's press release here.

Berg Calls For Revamping of AmeriCorps Program

Executive director of the Coalition Against Hunger, Joel Berg, recently published an article, Restoring the Purchasing Power of the AmeriCorps Educational Award, on ideasprimary.com. The Coalition Against Hunger hosts both AmeriCorps Direct and AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers. The AmeriCorps program engages Americans in domestic national service in exchange for financial aid to help with college or graduate school. Berg calls on the next president to restructure the existing AmeriCorps program, which currently offers an education award of $4,725 - a total that was determined in 1994 at the program's launch. The award now only covers about 5% of a four-year private institution's tuition and 21% of a four-year public education.