NEW YORK, UNITED STATES | Met Council has distributed a record 2,016,982 pounds of kosher food to families ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, marking what the Jewish anti-poverty organization says is the largest Rosh Hashanah food distribution in American history.
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty worked with 162 partner organizations from August through September to distribute traditional holiday foods, fresh produce, proteins and pantry staples. More than 15 organizations participated in the Yom Tov campaign for the first time this year.
The scale of the campaign comes amid increased demand for food assistance. Met Council CEO David G. Greenfield told JNS that the organization is seeing more requests from families struggling with rising costs and unemployment.
“More than 2 million pounds of food is an extraordinary number and a new record, but this work is not really about pounds. It is about people,” Greenfield said in Met Council’s announcement.
“Tzedakah means taking responsibility for one another. No family should have to choose between paying a bill and putting food on the table for Yom Tov.”
Greenfield credited Met Council’s partner organizations, volunteers and supporters with helping thousands of families welcome the Jewish New Year with dignity and traditional holiday foods.
Apples, Honey, Grape Juice And Fresh Produce
The distribution included 55,026 bottles of grape juice, 48,384 bottles of honey and 659,432 pounds of fresh produce, according to Met Council.
Families also received apples for Rosh Hashanah, chicken, frozen fish, eggs, soup mix and tea biscuits.
Pantry staples included flour, oil, pasta, rice, beans, canned fish, fruits and vegetables, all provided with kosher certification.
The campaign is being conducted through community organizations and 13 Market by Met Council sites. Independent reporting on the distribution confirms the 2,016,982-pound total, 162 partner agencies and 13 Market by Met Council sites.
Met Council operates what it describes as the country’s largest kosher and halal food pantry network. Its digital pantry model allows families to choose food appropriate for their household and dietary needs rather than receiving standardized packages.
The approach is intended to preserve privacy and kavod, or dignity, while giving families greater control over the assistance they receive.
“I am tremendously proud of our Food Programs team and the 162 organizations that worked around the clock to make this distribution possible,” said Hannah Lupien, Met Council’s managing director of Food Programs.
“Moving more than 2 million pounds of food requires months of planning and enormous coordination, but every delivery came down to one simple goal: making sure families received fresh, nutritious, kosher food in time for Yom Tov.”
More Than 500 Volunteers Join Campaign
More than 500 volunteers worked alongside Met Council staff to sort, pack, and deliver food during the campaign.
The distribution reached Jewish communities throughout New York City and Long Island and extended into New Jersey and Connecticut. Met Council also conducted its first Yom Tov distribution in Florida.
The expansion underscores the growing scale of the organization’s food assistance programs. Met Council says its Kosher Food Network reaches more than 350,000 people annually, a figure also reflected in the organization’s current public information.
The High Holiday campaign follows another massive food operation earlier this year.
Ahead of Passover, Met Council and its partners distributed more than 3.5 million pounds of kosher-for-Passover food, reaching more than 350,000 people through approximately 250 distribution points and 230 community organizations. More than 800 volunteers supported that campaign.
Fighting Food Insecurity Year-Round
Met Council emphasized that the High Holiday distribution represents only part of its year-round work addressing poverty and food insecurity.
Through New York’s Social Care Network program, the organization screens Medicaid members throughout New York City’s five boroughs for food insecurity and other health-related needs.
Eligible participants can receive kosher food, pantry access, home-safety assistance, help navigating government and community programs, and continuing care management.
The organization also provides crisis intervention, affordable housing, services for Holocaust survivors and older adults, assistance for victims of domestic violence, and help accessing government benefits.
Met Council traces its roots to 1972 and describes itself as America’s largest Jewish nonprofit dedicated to fighting poverty. It currently says it serves more than 350,000 clients annually.
For Met Council, however, the High Holiday campaign is framed not simply as food assistance but through the traditional Jewish obligations of tzedakah, charitable responsibility, chessed, acts of kindness, and achrayus, responsibility for others.
As families prepare to gather around their Rosh Hashanah tables, more than two million pounds of food have been moved through that network of organizations, volunteers, and community partners with a single objective: ensuring that financial hardship does not prevent Jewish families from celebrating Yom Tov with dignity.
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