New York City has the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, exceeding even those at the outbreak’s epicentre in China’s Hubei province.
Even in normal times, New York City has an estimated 1.2 million people who are short of food. City Harvest usually delivers basics to people who can't afford to buy food in five of the city’s boroughs. But the New York lockdown threatened to halt their vital work.
Undaunted, volunteers are continuing to pack food for distribution, sorting fresh produce such as corn and cabbage - but working spaced out to avoid spreading infection.
"It's important to serve the community, to serve other people," one of the volunteers, Kent Gasser, told Reuters.
Chief Operating Officer Jen McLean says she sees the number of hungry people growing every day. “What I've seen is an outpouring of people wanting to help. I know we all feel the love right now. We just need to keep our distance so that we can get this food packed and out to people that are relying on it."