Feeding Family is a nonprofit organization that was formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to provide relief to the victims hit hardest in Staten Island. Feeding Family serves the poor, distressed and underprivileged with a focus on promoting the physical and emotional reconstruction of communities in a sustainable and healthy manner. Feeding Family encourages economic self-determination. They are community advocates that have dedicated their efforts to the most important and urgent needs identified by the communities.
Feeding Family collects prepares and serves 1,180 hot meals a day to Staten Island residents every day. While still providing hot meals through partnerships with other community organizations and faith-based institutions, we take a much longer approach to food services. We are implementing a Crop Circle Kitchen model to serve as an incubator for small businesses throughout the 5 boroughs and we are building 30 urban sustainable and flood-proof community gardens and greenhouses to grow healthy food and medicinal plants.
Our gardens and greenhouses will be built in the most environmentally friendly way possible and we are applying a sophisticated method of farming, hydroponics and permaculture. We are decontaminating the garden grounds with natural approaches and will have them completely decontaminating within the year. We outreach to schools, veterans, youth groups and local members to offer an opportunity get involved and receive volunteer and academic credit as well as an opportunity to be proactive in the healing and beautification process.
Feeding Family also provides warehouse, storage space and support to multiple organizations that we collaborate with including World Cares, Sandy Yellow Team, Occupy Sandy, Boots on the Ground and Guyon Rescue. We are a donation drop off and distribution center for clothing, construction, demolition supplies, and furniture and appliances. We are in the process of rebuilding and expanding this space to set up an additional area for caseworkers from elected officials' offices and other nonprofit groups to assist people with getting the resources and services needed.
Our weekly average amount of volunteers is 1,000 people. We find it important to engage the community. When people take ownership of rebuilding their community they feel a sense of empowerment and support from each other. We engage the youth and give them a positive and educational way to occupy their time and heal in a constructive way, and we will soon be working with veterans as well.
Within our space we are opening a food pantry and kitchen to serve those that were hardest hit by the hurricane We interview and evaluate need base for families and then we provide either with hot food or pantry food that we are currently preparing in a shared community kitchen. While hot food is being phased out in the next 2 months we are building our own kitchen in order to be able to provide, cook food and distribute food after natural disasters in the New York area. Due to the fact there has been a natural disaster on Staten Island the past 3 years we feel it necessary to be prepared for future natural disasters.
