Thousands of Needy New Yorkers to Receive Free Meals on July 29th

Art of Men (ArtofMen.org), an organization of men across the world dedicated to making serious social impact, is hosting the first event of its Everybody Eats campaign on Wednesday July 29th. This bold new initiative, intended to focus attention on the hunger epidemic facing this nation, kicks off by feeding 3,500 people across each of New York City’s five boroughs.

Art of Men (AoM) was founded by Art Gurwitz, COO of Proskauer Rose LLP, a major international law firm, as a response to a world he saw going in the wrong direction.

“I looked around and saw that everything was falling apart. The subways don’t work. The roads are a mess. The homeless problem seems to get worse every year. And people are hungry!” said Gurwitz. “Everybody’s complaining but no one is doing anything about it. I decided to do something.”

Since the organization began they have done quite a lot. AoM has arranged for 6,500 families in the Bronx to have regular food supplies and rebuilt the pantry at St. Augustine’s church. They partnered with NYC Service on their Cools Roofs project and joined the Broadway League to bring 75 seniors from Union Settlement to Pippin! AoM and the New York Yankees brought seniors from Hodson Senior Center (the oldest center in NYC) to a baseball game and are currently partnering with Major League Baseball teams and local seniors centers in a number of cities. All men looking to make a difference are encouraged to visit the AoM projects page at ArtofMen.org.

Art of Men’s website makes it easy for men to identify projects in their community that require their skills. “Guys want to help,” Gurwitz argues. “They just don’t know how. Our site matches guys with organizations that need them desperately.”

Partnering with AoM to distribute the meals for Everybody Eats kickoff are Henry Street Settlement in Manhattan, Mosholu Montefiore Community Center in the Bronx, Brooklyn Community Services, Queens Community House and Project Hospitality of Staten Island. Food is being donated by Michael Scott Events, a leading NYC-based gourmet caterer.

“It’s hard to understand how we’ve become a culture obsessed with taking pictures of our food while the family down the street has nothing to eat,” said AoM Executive Director Jeff Hughes. “Every time a cool new tech item is released millions fly off the shelves, but the shelves of our food pantries that remain empty! Everybody Eats won’t feed everybody. We know that. But every meal we serve is part of the solution – that’s what drives us.”

Locations and times for the NYC Everybody Eats event are:

Manhattan

Henry Street Settlement

Urban Family Center

128 Baruch Place. NY, NY 10002

Time: 4-8 PM

Bronx

Mosholu Montefiore Community Center

3450 DeKalb Avenue. Bronx, NY 10467

Time: 1-4 PM

Brooklyn

Brooklyn Community Services

1702 Mermaid Avenue (Coney Island)

Brooklyn, NY 11224

Time: 12-3 PM

Staten Island

Project Hospitality

514 Bay Street (corner of Sands Street)

Staten Island, NY 10304

Time: 1-4 PM

Queens

Queens Community House

Pomonok Center

67-09 Kissena Blvd.

Flushing, Queens 11367

Time: 4-7 PM