The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) began in 1998 with an act of neighborly kindness toward a single, disabled mother with four children and was incorporated as a 501c3 non-profit organization in 2005 as Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger. At that time, we were a small, traditional food pantry serving 50 families in a church basement in historic Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, which was, and still largely is, a food desert.
The modest food pantry that started it all in 1998 has since evolved into one of the first and largest “client-choice” supermarket-style pantries in the country. It is now a 2,000 sq. ft. emporium stocked continuously with a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and other popular grocery items(and a clothing distribution area.
To insure that we are addressing our clients’ needs holistically, prior to entry each pantry shopper is screened for and enrolled in benefits programs (such as SNAP and health insurance), assessed for referrals to partnering agencies (such as health care or legal providers), and/or signed up for our free education programs or tax preparation service. In 2017 alone, we prepared more than XX million in income tax returns helping over 3,400 low-income filers.
TCAH hosts over 600 nutrition workshops per year including: a) Healthy Families Healthy Communities, a weekly two-hour dinner initiative for inter-generational families; b) Health 360, a wellness club for seniors; c) Healthy Bloomers, our summer program for children ages 4-11; and d) Chef’s Corner, where our two nutrition-educator Chefs provide healthy cooking demonstration and loads of tasty free samples of traditional recipes re-fashioned with healthy pantry ingredients and the vegetable of the week. Chef’s Corner, always popular, is offered weekly in our seasonable farm stands and in our Superpantry!
At the core of our work is the Superpantry. We are currently the largest pantry operating out of Brooklyn, providing clothing and the basic staples of a well-balanced diet to more than XX,XXX low-income individuals each month. In the last 20 years, we have served over XX,XXX members of the community through our SuperPantry and Mobile Pantry.
The Campaign Against Hunger’s two Chef-Educators engage with the community through a number of nutrition education classes and seasonal programs. Our dedicated team is also equipped to assist our clients with SNAP registration, financial literacy workshops, health insurance enrollment, as well as tax preparation and filing services. In 2017 alone, we prepared more than $2.6 million in income tax returns for over 3,400 New York City residents.
