- Title: USA: New Yorkers line up for free food for the holidays
- Date: 22nd December 2010
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 21, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ROSALINDE BLOCK, NEW YORK FOOD BANK SHOPPER, GOING THROUGH THE AISLES OF THE FOOD PANTRY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROSALINDE BLOCK, NEW YORK FOOD BANK SHOPPER, SAYING: "I was really left with nothing. I teach piano during the year to makemeet and that fell out the wayside when the summer comes and I have no piano students. So I was really left with no students, no social security, and no income, nothing." NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 20, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOXES WITH FOOD ENTERING THE FOOD PANTRY OF WEST HARLEM (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, VICE PRESIDENT, FOOD BANK OF NEW YORK CITY, SAYING: "Since the financial crisis started, we have actually seen an increase across the city of close to 25 percent of new clients coming to out network of emergency food providers." BOXES WITH FOOD IN THE FOOD PANTRY OF WEST HARLEM VARIOUS OF PILES OF BOXES WITH FOOD (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, VICE PRESIDENT, FOOD BANK OF NEW YORK CITY, SAYING: "We've seen a lot of new families that were recently unemployed and in many cases families that never thought that they would be needing our services, whether it's food or some of the other services that we provide." NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 21, 2010) (REUTERS) CARD READING "DRY BEANS = 2 POINTS" SHELF WITH DRY BEANS CARD READING "CANNED BEANS = 1 POINT" SHELF WITH CANNED FOOD BLOCK GRABBING DRY FOOD (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROSALINDE BLOCK, NEW YORK FOOD BANK SHOPPER, SAYING: "I mean, the first time I was up here standing in line you know, it was a very strange, I felt very strange. I mean it was the dead of summer and I came here with my shopping cart reading the New York Times, and I was thinking, 'I should be out, you know I should be out there doing something, doing something major,' but I was exhausted." BLOCK GRABBING FRUITS BLOCK PUTTING CHIPS IN HER CART FULL SHOPPING CART (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROSALINDE BLOCK, NEW YORK FOOD BANK SHOPPER, SAYING: "You know I have been very very-- I have been doing pasta all month as far as spending. And it has been much of a rice and beans month because for Christmas, you know we are having some friends over, some of my son's friends who don't have places to go, and you know I get to make a really nice meal. And not try to economize, but with that being said, they have got great produce here and I will be able to make the stuffer with you know, all the great celery and all of that." BLOCK AND HER SHOPPING CART VARIOUS OF BLOCK PUTTING HER FOOD IN BAGS BLOCK CARRYING HER BAGS FILLED WITH FOOD PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE FOOD PANTRY OF WEST HARLEM A WOMAN IN LINE TO ENTER THE FOOD PANTRY A WOMAN IN LINE TO ENTER THE FOOD PANTRY SIGN READING "COMMUNITY KITCHEN AND THE FOOD PANTRY OF WEST HARLEM"
- Embargoed: 6th January 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa, Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAHE677RLIR8ACQPLECZ8BIECD
- Story Text: Some New Yorkers who have recently fallen on hard economic times lined up at the entrance to a food pantry in West Harlem on Tuesday (December 21) to get food for their big holiday dinner.
Among the people was Rosalinde Block, a relatively new visitor to the pantry.
Block is a college-educated performing artist and writer, who has been a piano teacher for the past 30 years. Block said she used to donate food when the economy was better, but now she finds herself receiving food aid.
Block said everything changed when her husband died and work decreased because of the financial crisis. And to make matters worse, her teenage son, who had trouble coping with his father's death, began to have health problems and had to spend time in the hospital.
For the first time in her life, Block said she experienced food insecurity and felt she had no other choice but to come to a food pantry.
"I was really left with nothing. I teach piano during the year to makemeet and that fell out the wayside when the summer comes and I have no piano students. So I was really left with no students, no social security, and no income, nothing," she said.
According to Carlos Rodriguez, who is the Vice President of the Food Bank of New York City, pantries and community kitchens across the city have reported increases in first time visitors such as Block.
"Since the financial crisis started, we have actually seen an increase across the city of close to 25 percent of new clients coming to out network of emergency food providers," he said.
According to the Food Bank of New York, about 1.4 million New Yorkers depend on their food programs, many of whom are like Block, educated, middle-class families who have never relied on food assistance before.
"We've seen a lot of new families that were recently unemployed and in many cases families that never thought that they would be needing our services, whether it's food or some of the other services that we provide," added Rodriguez.
For first time visitors, the experience of visiting a food pantry could come as a shock. Block recalls her first visit to the West Harlem food pantry.
"I mean, the first time I was up here standing in line you know, it was a very strange, I felt very strange. I mean it was the dead of summer and I came here with my shopping cart reading the New York Times, and I was thinking, 'I should be out, you know I should be out there doing something, doing something major,' but I was exhausted," the 58-year-old said.
But it is also thanks to the food bank that Block will be able to put together a big Christmas dinner for friends and family come Saturday.
"You know I have been very very-- I have been doing pasta all month as far as spending. And it has been much of a rice and beans month because for Christmas, you know we are having some friends over, some of my son's friends who don't have places to go, and you know I get to make a really nice meal. And not try to economize, but with that being said, they have got great produce here and I will be able to make the stuffer with you know, all the great celery and all of that," she said.
With the country's unemployment rate hovering at 9.8 percent, the Food Bank of New York City is worried that it might have problems in the future providing for its clients. It says more than 3 million New Yorkers experience difficulty affording food, which is a 60 percent increase since 2003 and expects this number to increase in 2011. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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