Bronx Residents Work Together to End Food Insecurity

“I felt I needed to do something. If I could be useful to my community then it was a no-brainer for me,” Bruce Rivera said. He looked around when the COVID-19 pandemic began and saw the need to help people get food. That’s why he started a project called Mission Helping Hand, a community garden for Bronx residents. 

The coronavirus pandemic put a strain on New York City’s food bank system. More people out of work needed food, but many food banks shut down. The Bronx was hit the hardest, with more than 50 percent of food pantries closing their doors permanently, according to Food Bank New York. The group found that many of the staffers, senior citizens who kept them running, had to stay home to protect themselves against COVID-19.

Around the time Rivera lost his job at a tequila company, Mission Helping Hand expanded quickly. He found volunteers, and they worked with community gardens that produced food and with restaurants and stores that might throw away food.

He and his team wrote posts on Facebook and Instagram asking their followers if they needed food. Then they delivered the food to people who responded.

Mission Helping Hand attracted the attention of Eastside Settlement House, and now the group, with about 270 volunteers, serves as a food pantry distribution service for the settlement house and community gardens.

Other Bronx residents have also stepped up to create projects to provide food for those in need. Selma Raven and Sara Allen were inspired by a program in Harlem that placed a refrigerator in a central location where people could pick up food. “We want to help make food accessible to everyone within our own communities too,” Raven said. They found a refrigerator at shuttered food pantry and started The Friendly Fridge BX on 242nd Street across from Van Cortlandt Park.

They use the restaurant Taste & Sabor, on W 231 St, to collect the food from local farmers markets and anyone who donates. Volunteers pack and bring the food to the Friendly Fridge and others in the Bronx at least three times a week.

Teachers Taziah Taveras and Sarah Caro volunteer at Friendly Fridge BX and help with packing and delivery. They are working with a team of other volunteers to provide accessibility for communities and getting more people interested in volunteering to make sure no one is going hungry. Caro said, “There are a lot of food deserts in the Bronx, especially coming from my background in education and working in some areas in the South Bronx. There are a lot of spaces where you won’t find produce for maybe a mile. If you don’t own a car in those areas or have another method of transport, it will be difficult for you to get fresh food. We think that food should be accessible to everyone.”  

Taveras agreed with her friend and said, “I hope that in time people realize that there is no shame in needing or having help. It’s a very difficult time in the world, and when so many laws and regulations have been made which disproportionately affect our people, the very least that we can all do is lend support to each other, in any way we can.”  

There are eight fridge locations in the Bronx including 242 St, Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Summer Youth Brigade (SYB), Parkchester, Allerton, Hunts Point, and Mott Haven.