City Harvest is Encouraging New Yorkers to 'Skip Lunch, Fight Hunger'

Skip lunch for a good cause!

By Bethany Braun-Silva April 3, 2018

City Harvest is an organization dedicated to fighting hunger in New York City. It reports that 1.3 million New Yorkers face hunger with 365,000 of them being children. That's why it has brought back its Skip Lunch, Fight Hunger campaign for the 16th year. City Harvest is encouraging New Yorkers to take the money they would normally spend on their lunch and use it to fight hunger in NYC.

Americans spend an estimated $3,000 a year on lunch, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and New Yorkers can spend up to $15 a day on lunch, which is enough to help City Harvest feed 60 hungry children.

According to the City Harvest website, "Since its inception in 2002, the Skip Lunch, Fight Hunger campaign has garnered the support from thousands of New Yorkers and raised over $7 million to fight child hunger along the way. That’s enough money to help feed more than 25,570 children and their families for an entire year."

The five day campaign, which runs from May 14-18, offers an additional incentive this year: the first 50 teams to raise $500 will receive a $500 match, generously provided by The Cowin Foundation.

"Skip Lunch Fight Hunger is our annual campaign to fight childhood hunger here in New York City. This is the sixteenth year of this campaign, and our goal is to raise $1.1 million dollars to help feed thousands of kids and their families over the summer," says Nicole Sumner, Business Partnerships Manager, City Harvest.

"Every spring, we rely on thousands of New Yorkers to help fundraise for the campaign and raise awareness around child hunger. Individuals and companies throughout the city start teams with their co-workers, friends, and family to donate what they would normally spend on lunch to fight child hunger. Just $15, what you might spend on lunch, helps feed 60 kids," says Sumner.

But everyone can help! Learn how at cityharvest.org/skiplunch.