In late October, our community came together, albeit virtually, to support the fourth annual Lycée Cares food drive for City Harvest, New York City’s largest food rescue organization.
Our partnership with City Harvest began four years ago, when an enthusiastic group of Lycée students, faculty, staff and parent volunteers came together to collect food and pack snack bags in the cafeteria to distribute to the needy. The energy that day was electric, as we were all united in the effort, demonstrating to even the youngest of our students the importance of helping those in need. Over the last several years, this effort has grown, and in 2019, we were able to deliver 5,000 bags of food to organizations that support food security for City Harvest.
In this year of COVID-19, the Lycée remains committed to helping City Harvest and the people they serve. The global pandemic has affected all of us in different ways, but it has been particularly devastating for food insecure families in New York City. COVID-19 has meant that one in four children are experiencing hunger due to increased unemployment rates and irregular school hours. New York City is also seeing a 40 percent increase in food-insecure residents from pre-COVID levels.
Thanks to strong participation from the Lycée community, our fall 2020 virtual food drive raised over 7,600 pounds of healthy food, far exceeding our goal of 2000 pounds. In addition, City Harvest received a donation of over 2,500 bottles of Stonyfield Farms milk from Lactalis on behalf of the Lycée. This incredible amount of food allows City Harvest to:
- feed nearly 8,000 people for a day,
- feed more than 2,500 families for a day,
- Or feed more than 1,000 New Yorkers for a week.
The food we collected was delivered this week to two of City Harvest’s agency partners. Reaching-Out Community Services provides various services for financially disadvantaged individuals and families across the five boroughs through its Food Pantry Plus Program. The Met Council helps feed over 225,000 needy New Yorkers each year, with a network of 75 food pantries.
Beyond the impact of the food drives, many faculty and staff members have helped deepen the educational aspect of Lycée Cares. In 2017, the program began with the school’s parent association (APL) donating children’s books on poverty and hunger for Primary classrooms. Today, it has evolved into a robust program, with fifth graders preparing presentations, readings and activities for their classmates from preK to fourth grade.
This year, despite a shorter timeline and Covid-19 safety protocols, the teachers worked with their classes on a series of video presentations for the younger students. In her conversation with Daphnée Marchini-Block (Head of Cycle 3), who helped spearhead these efforts, fifth-grade teacher Carlyne Laurent noted, “It helps our students open their horizons (ouverture d’esprit). They know more about what happens around them. They realize that we do not need to go far in order to find people in need. They can help right here, in their city, in their community.”
The students eagerly expressed their passion for this project, with Louise noting, “It made me happy to help people and influence other students positively.” Theodore shared, “It made me feel so good to help, and teach other students. I love making presentations and working with my friends.”
Thank you!
The Lycée Cares team looks forward to building upon our strong partnership with City Harvest, while deepening both the service and the educational components for our students. As Thanksgiving approaches, we would like to thank the entire community for your continued support of City Harvest and Lycée Cares to ensure that as many children and families receive food during this holiday season.
Featured photo credit: Sitara Herur-Halbert for the Lycée
About the Author :
Kay Lee (2nd from right) and Anna Lynn Oppenheimer (right) helped spearhead Lycée Cares for the Lycée. Here, they are pictured with the Lycée Cares team in 2019. Kay and Anna Lynn are avid parent volunteers, with between them, four children in the Primary and Secondary School.