Hunts Point Week of Giving feeds more than 2,500 families

Expanding the annual one-day Hunts Point Gives Back event to a Hunts Point Week of Giving series of events spread out across New York City worked so well in 2020, that organizers repeated the success in 2021.

From Nov. 15 to 20, leaders at Hunts Point Produce Market in Bronx, N.Y., partnered with elected officials and community organizations in each of the five city boroughs to hand out bags of fresh produce to more than 2,500 families in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and Manhattan.

The idea is to provide families in need with food they can use for Thanksgiving dinner.

“It worked so well last year, we’re carrying it forward, and mostly likely we will continue to carry it forward in the coming years,” said Phillip Grant, Hunts Point Produce Market CEO and general manager.

At each event, volunteers gave about 500 bags with fresh, top-shelf items — such as acorn squash, bananas, carrots, cranberries, onions, oranges, peppers, potatoes and sweet potatoes — which were donated by the wholesale merchants at the market.

To request produce donations from Hunts Point Produce Market any time of the year, there’s a tab for community organizations to fill out a form.