Met Council’s annual Pesach food distribution, the largest in North America, is in full swing throughout New York and is on track to provide Kosher for Pesach food to over 180,000 people.

Every year, Met Council provides needy families with Kosher for Pesach food to celebrate Yom Tov. In order to accomplish this, Met Council’s Kosher Food Network expands from 30 regular food pantries to 120 distribution locations all across New York City, Rockland, Westchester and Long Island. More than 900 volunteers fan out across the five boroughs to pack and distribute the Pesach food packages for people in need. This year, to better serve the clients and their nutritional needs, Met Council’s CEO, David G. Greenfield, raised an additional $350,000 specifically for Glatt Kosher Pesach protein that is being distributed including over 100,000 pounds of fresh chicken, tilapia and eggs. Some of the better known of the 120 organizations that distribute Met Council’s food include Boro Park JCC, Crown Heights JCC and the UJO of Williamsburg.

“In the weeks leading up to Pesach, Met Council coordinates deliveries of fresh produce, household staples and Pesach specific foods like potatoes, gefilte fish and matzah across our food network,” explained David G. Greenfield, CEO of Met Council. “This year, we are doubling the amount of protein that we are distributing to increase the simchas Yom Tov for so many that we serve. That means more fish, chicken and eggs to more people than ever before.”

Met Council is on track this year to supplying needy households with nearly 2 million pounds of fresh food for Pesach. In addition, Met Council is providing almost $500,000 to 2,593 households in specially coded American Express Food Cards that can only be used in kosher supermarkets. “These cards are an extra way to help families who are struggling. We allow them to buy the food that they need with dignity just like every other family. As the largest Jewish communal social safety net in America, we are committed to making sure that everyone, regardless of financial ability, has a Chag Kasher V’Sameach.”

Met Council’s Brooklyn warehouse receives deliveries of food from around the country and then distributes it through their trucking system all this month to 120 organizations across New York. The planning for the Pesach distribution started six months ago and will end next Tuesday with the two final distributions at the UJC of the East Side of Manhattan and JCC of Canarsie in Brooklyn.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)