Alleviating food insecurity, especially among our elderly Asian American neighbors, has been a core part of AAFE’s mission for many years. Food insecurity and hunger remain urgent yet often invisible challenges faced by older AAPI adults in New York City, and rising inflation and the city’s already high cost of living place a deep financial strain on this community.
To respond to these needs, AAFE operates monthly food pantries in Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and East Harlem, tailored to the food needs and cultural and dietary preferences of our primarily older adult, AAPI food pantry recipients. With our deep roots in AAPI communities as a trusted community services provider, AAFE is uniquely positioned to make our food pantries more accessible to a population that may otherwise be underserved by traditional food pantry options.
Our pantries have become an essential lifeline for residents living in proximity to our three pantry locations. Over the past fiscal year, our pantries served a total of 5,280 households, distributing 79,200 pounds of food. Each month, our Chinatown pantry serves more than 200 households. Our Lower East Side and East Harlem locations each assist over 100 families each month, offering consistent support across the neighborhoods we serve. Special thanks to the City Council for helping make our monthly pantries possible.
AAFE’s Resident Services Manager, Ling Ren, leads this effort and oversees operations at our Chinatown and Lower East Side food pantries every month. Through harsh winter weather and sweltering heat, Ling has seen participants line up for hours to receive their monthly share of free fresh produce and grocery essentials.
“We’ve had a very long history of doing food pantries in the community, since the inception of the organization about 50 years ago,” Ling said. “When there are pantry days, sometimes we even see seniors line up the previous night before at 9pm, waiting for a portion of food a whole 16 hours later. To us, this shows that food insecurity needs have always been there.”
Our regular volunteers also play a vital role in helping our pantries run smoothly from set-up and breakdown to food distribution. One of our volunteers, Evan, was introduced to the program by his father, who also volunteers regularly. “I think it’s a really great service for the community,” Evan said. “Services like these should be tailored to the communities they’re in.”
We are deeply grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and staff in making our food pantries possible, and sustaining this critical mutual aid effort. If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our Volunteer webpage to get in touch about upcoming opportunities.
