Support MSK's FOOD Program
Battling cancer is tough. Battling cancer without enough food in the house is even tougher.
Good nutrition is essential for anyone with cancer, but some patients in our community lack the resources to buy the food they need to stay strong. In fact, more than 60% of cancer patients that participate in programs sponsored by MSK's Immigrant Health & Cancer Disparities service (IHCD) are food insecure. Food insecure patients are often worried about where their next meal is coming from and it can hinder the successful completion of their cancer treatment, reduce their quality of life, and increase stress and anxiety.
Since 2011, MSK's Food to Overcome Outcome Disparities (FOOD) Program has been working to alleviate food insecurity within this vulnerable population and increase awareness of how food insecurity impacts a patient’s ability to fight cancer, providing nourishing food for cancer patients who need a helping hand.
The Black, Latino, Asian and Multiracial Employee Resource Network (BLAM), in partnership with IHCD, is hosting a center-wide FOOD drive. As part of this initiative, we have set up this giving page. We hope you’ll consider joining the cause and contributing.
FOOD During the Pandemic
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the FOOD Program has seen a tremendous increase in the need for food resources across the institution. Over the last year alone, FOOD Program has distributed over 8,000 grocery bags, equivalent to almost 100,000 meals, serving almost 1200 patients and about 4000 family and household members.
With the help of the MSK Transportation team, we continue our food pantry delivery program which distributes essential items to MSK patients and their families.
Surging inflation and the rising cost of food are increasing the need for the FOOD program, as more community members with cancer become food insecure. New York City’s food pantries are reporting having to limit the quality or quantity of the food they supply, and nutritional supplements are often unavailable. Providing the high-quality nutrition that vulnerable patients with cancer need to survive is vital, and FOOD serves this role.
Addressing Unmet Essential Needs
In addition to food distribution, the FOOD Program also provides comprehensive case management to enrolled patients. Patients are connected with resources and services around transportation, financial assistance, legal aid, housing, public benefits, and psychosocial support. FOOD taps into a broad range of resources available at MSK as well as out in the community. This aspect of FOOD has never been so vital. As patients and their households continue to experience pandemic-related income loss, housing instability, anxiety, and isolation, FOOD continues to connect patients and their loved ones with much needed help.
Monetary donations will support Food Pantries at the following locations:
• MSK Koch Center
• 53rd Street Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion, MSK
• The Brooklyn Infusion Center, MSK
• The Ralph Lauren Center, MSK
• MSK Commack, MSK
• Nassau, MSK
• Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center
• Montefiore Medical Center
• Jacobi Hospital Center
• Kings County Hospital Center
• Elmhurst Hospital Center
• Queens Hospital Center
• Saint Barnabas Hospital
Thank you for your support! Together, let’s change what it means to be diagnosed with cancer.
For more information about FOOD Program activities, please contact Claudia Ayash at ayashc@mskcc.org.
This web page and e-mail are provided as a courtesy to participants to help them manage fundraising efforts for this event. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center or any of its affiliated organizations, or their officers, directors, agents, or employees do not control, nor are they responsible for, the contents of this Web page. Any views or information provided on this Web page are the sole responsibility of the participant. The participant's Web page may provide links to other Web sites and does not imply an endorsement by MSKCC, its affiliated organizations, their officers, directors, agents, and employees of the materials contained at those Web sites. |