Queens Interfaith Hunger Network

Emergency Food Service

The Emergency Food Service provides food for up to four days of nutritionally-balanced meals for hungry persons in Queens who lack adequate resources.

A program of the Queens Federation of Churches, the Emergency Food Service is supported primarily by contributions of food and funds given by congregations, individuals, and religious organizations in Queens.

Queens has been divided into geographical areas, with the churches in each area asked to collect canned and nonperishable foods during a particular month each year. Food may, of course, be donated at any time. Some congregations collect food several times each year; some do it on a continuous basis.

Requesting Food

Requests for food must come from local clergy or social workers at recognized agencies who have met with the individual or family in need of emergency assistance. Requests cannot be taken directly from individuals or families. They will be referred back to the agency or church which sent them or to the Food and Hunger Hotline.

Volunteer workers at the Federation's Pantry will select food — nutritionally balanced for three meals per day — according to the needs and size of the family being served. A four-day supply of food is provided, depending on available resources. At the time the request is made, a specific appointment for pickup will be made, usually at noon the following day.

The Queens Federation of Churches is not a social service agency. Our Emergency Food Service is intended as a resource for local churches and social service organizations in Queens. The relationship with the person or family in need remains with the local church or agency.

When requests for food exceed three in any twelve month period for the same family, the agency or church may be requested to assist the family through other referrals to meet their ongoing needs. Our Emergency Food Service is not able to provide ongoing, sustaining assistance for the long term.

Emergency Situations which have been encountered include sudden unemployment, prolonged illness, lost or delayed assistance checks or food stamps, desertion, eviction, nonsupport, domestic violence, robbery, fire, flood, new residency without support, and the list goes on. . . . Emergency needs arise throughout the year in every community in the Borough!

Your Support

In addition to gifts of food, cash gifts are also needed. Contributions to the QFC are tax deductible. Please make your check payable to the Queens Federation of Churches — mark it "EFS" or Emergency Food Service — and send it to: Queens Federation of Churches, 86-17 105th Street Richmond Hill, NY 11418-1597. Online contributions may be made by clicking here.

Ecumenical Ministry in Queens recognizes that God calls us to live as a single family in God's Creation, the One Household that God has provided.

The Emergency Food Service was organized by the Queens Federation of Churches in 1976 with the recognition that hunger was a significant need within God's Household here in Queens. In the early 1980s, changes in government policy exacerbated the interrelated problems of homelessness and hunger and the number of families in crisis increased dramatically. What was a significant problem was turned overnight into a national catastrophe as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, among tens of millions of other Americans — God's children all — were effectively sent away from the family table and hearth to forage for food in an urban wilderness.

A 5½x8½ bulletin insert is available online for you to include in your worship bulletin or newsletter.