From January 17th-19th, 2009, the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) sponsored its 6th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Anti-Hunger “Serve-a-Thon,” a three-day event featuring volunteer opportunities at over thirty food pantries and soup kitchens throughout New York City.

The Dr. King Day Serve-a-Thon is a part of President-elect Barack Obama’s “Renew America Together: A Call to Service” in honor of Dr. King’s legacy. More information about nation-wide service events can be found on-line at http://www.pic2009.org/.

During the events, volunteers performed a wide variety of tasks such as preparing and serving hot meals, cleaning and painting facilities, and conducting food stamp and Earned Income Tax Credit outreach.

Said Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, “Dr. King called for making service to others a centerpiece of American life, saying ‘Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.’ The Obama inauguration is perfectly honoring that legacy by marking Dr. King's birthday as a national day of community service.”

On Monday, elected officials joined volunteers at Broadway Community, Inc. (“BCI”) in West Harlem both to engage in direct service and to draw attention to the soaring level of hunger in New York City and the need for government action to help the over 1.3 million New Yorkers who are forced to go to food pantries and soup kitchens each year.

Chef Michael Ennes, Director of Emergency Services and Training, represented BCI, a model faith- and community-based social service organization that provides emergency food, clothing and shelter to those in need as well as long-term support aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit.

The Serve-a-Thon honored Dr. King’s dream of ending poverty by encouraging New Yorkers to commit to long-term volunteer opportunities and anti-hunger advocacy in 2009. During his campaign, President-elect Obama pledged to end child hunger by 2015 as a down payment on ending all domestic hunger. In addition, on January 15, 2009, the transition team proposed the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” that includes the largest investment in nutrition assistance funding in decades, including critical funding such as $200 billion for SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps) and $750 for After-school meals.

Continued Berg, “If we truly want to honor Dr King's full legacy, and if President Obama wants to start building his own in a practical and immensely meaningful way, the time for new action against poverty is now.”

Senator Liz Krueger said: “25 years ago, I helped to start the NYC FoodBank and Chaired the Board of the NYC Coalition Against Hunger. We thought it would take less than a decade to end hunger in America through improved government programs for the poor. We have yet to fulfill the promises of the War on Poverty and the Great Society programs that Martin Luther King and others fought so hard to begin. Today, one day before the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, it is fitting that we remember the teachings of Martin Luther King and renew our commitment to ending hunger and ensuring that in these troubled economic times it is more important than ever for government to help those who are most in need.”

Borough President Scott Stringer said: “On this historic Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the eve of Barack Obama’s inauguration, I couldn’t be more proud than to stand with the New York City Coalition Against Hunger in support of food pantries. During these difficult economic times, the need for emergency food assistance is greater than ever. It is my hope that elected officials citywide and President-elect Obama’s incoming administration will help raise awareness of our emerging food crisis and ensure that every American has access to food -- a basic human right.”

Said Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum: “There is no better way to honor Dr. King's 80th birthday than with a national call to service, just a day before our country inaugurates its first African-American President. In New York, we can answer this call with a citywide commitment to ending poverty and hunger. Today I am thrilled to join the New York City Coalition Against Hunger at a soup kitchen to help serve New Yorkers in need.”

“New Yorkers have big hearts and days like this prove it," said Councilman Eric Gioia. "Whether it's helping to clean a park, performing a neighborhood watch, serving food at a soup kitchen, or serving on a neighborhood revitalization board, community service helps bind communities together. Our city thrives when people take time out of their busy schedules to come together as a family to help their neighbors.”

Said Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Chair of the Council's General Welfare Committee: “I am so pleased to be able to join NYCCAH on its day of service to help hungry New Yorkers and to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As NYCCAH's hunger report in November clearly showed, hunger is becoming a full-blown crisis for our City. We can and must do more to get emergency food and food stamps into the hands of hungry New Yorkers.”

The New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) represents the more than 1,200 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City and the more than 1.3 million low-income New Yorkers who are forced to use them. The Coalition works to meet the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers and enact innovative solutions to help them move "beyond the soup kitchen" to self-sufficiency.