An Essential Member of the Chelsea Community

Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen provides resources Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen means it’s a helping to our families in ways that we cannot. Thank hand to everyone. It provides me a meal, and a you to the generous donors and volunteers seat with strangers who have become neighbors who make the brown bag lunches and and friends. Backpack Pantry Program possible for our students and families in need. - Male, 45-54, employed part-time - Cindy Wang, Principal of P.S. 33 19 19 Since welcoming our first guests in 1982, As the fundamental needs of our fellow New Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen has kept its doors Yorkers change, we too make adjustments open to respond to unpredictable times, be it on which include scaling up meal quantities, adding an individual level or on a much broader scale. to our social services lineup, stewarding new partnerships, and establishing protocols that At the beginning of 2019, we entered what would make our operation even more sustainable. become the longest government shutdown in American history. With it came a period of We remain guided by our steadfast commitment sustained uncertainty, and the country’s food and to radical hospitality, even at times when the world social safety nets facing repeated threats. Many around us is facing its own challenges. Everyone is people turned to emergency food programs like welcome at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. ours for the first time.

Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen means it’s a helping 3 19 Dear Friends,

As I look back at 2019 through the current lens of COVID-19, and the struggle of social distancing we’ve all experienced, I think about the isolation felt by many who visit Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. Whether their struggles include the inability to find a safe place to sleep, to bathe, to fill a child’s lunchbox, or to simply afford a winter coat, people who come to us seek sustenance and connection. Our staff and volunteers strive to bridge those feelings of separation by offering warm meals, fellowship, and social services as a gateway for positive change in the lives of our guests.

Since the Church of the Holy Apostles opened in 1844, it has been a welcoming space in which no one is ever cast away. It is believed that our building served as a stop along the Underground Railroad a century before it provided a meeting place for the post-Stonewall gay rights movement. Congregation Beit Simchat Torah held services in our building for years, as has the New York Sufi community. The Soup Kitchen is proud to continue a tradition of hospitality by welcoming our neighbors in need of food since 1982.

Throughout 2019, we integrated Holy Apostles’ powerful legacy into our work in new ways. We began hosting a New York City Warming Center, offering homeless individuals a safe, overnight place to stay when the temperature dipped below freezing. In April, we launched Sunday Supper, a free monthly meal for generations of family and friends to gather and enjoy each other’s company. One month later, we built raised bed gardens to harvest fresh leafy greens for our Backpack Pantry Program. And at year’s end we acquired Hearty Start, an organization that provides breakfast to members of the community who can’t make it to a soup kitchen or food pantry.

One might say that the biggest milestone of the year was serving our nine millionth meal, which passed without fanfare but with the same preparation, dedication, and attention to detail that had gone into each of the previous eight million. The volume of meals we served in 2019 – just over 340,000 in total – underscores the sustained, high need for food among our neighbors here in Chelsea and many more who visit us from other boroughs.

Each of the individuals, corporations, foundations, program partners, volunteers, and food donors you will read about supported this work and gave us the ability to expand our programs. I’m truly grateful for their generosity and yours. Together we are guided by the belief that there is no need to wait until a pandemic or natural disaster to be kind and compassionate.

The Church, and the Soup Kitchen that comes to life within it, foster connection and kinship. As long as hunger persists in our community we will do everything we can to respond with care, strength, and dedication.

Thank you for joining us in this essential work.

The Rev. Dr. Anna S. Pearson, Executive Director

2 Addressing the Need for Food With nearly 1.1 million food insecure New Yorkers, including 16.2% of our city’s children, and emergency shelters filled to capacity, our Soup Kitchen provided a critical safety net. We served 340,000 meals, 80,000 more than the previous year, the most ever in the Soup Kitchen’s 37-year history. Expanding the Backpack Pantry Program In its first full year, the Backpack Pantry Program served150 households, a total of 43,680 meals. Supplementing weekday meal service, this program ensures that our youngest and oldest neighbors have access to nutritious food over the weekend when school meals aren’t available and emergency food programs are closed. Participants include families of children attending P.S. 33 as well as families in the Chelsea-Elliot and Fulton Houses.

Growing the Brown Bag Lunch Program We prepare 1,300 portable mid-day meals each week for members of the Chelsea community who aren’t able to make it to the Soup Kitchen, including our neighbors experiencing homelessness who sleep in and around Penn Station, seniors residing in a nearby subsidized housing complex, and New Sanctuary Coalition, an organization that supports immigrants.

Acquiring Hearty Start We’d been working with this organization since 2015, preparing 135 breakfast sandwiches each weekday for distribution to community members in need of food. With this program now in our lineup, we’ve strengthened our meal infrastructure.

Hosting a NYC Warming Center In February we began providing overnight space, hot beverages, blankets, and breakfast sandwiches to guests when the temperature falls below 32’ F. We hosted 225 guests over 36 nights in 2019.

Homelessness can happen to This place is an oasis in the desert. anyone. No matter who comes Eating here is a lifeline. Shelters in, or what their condition is, the don’t have time to provide welcome here is always so nice sustenance. But this place is and warm. therapeutic. They uplift you here. - David - Charles

3 OUR IMPACT: Essential Meals Distributed

224,376 Soup Kitchen Meals

Backpacks Filled with Weekend Meals 43,680

45,891 Brown Bag Lunches

Breakfast Sandwiches 27,025

2,122 Sunday Suppers

9,812,885 343,094 Total Meals MEALS SERVED 1982 - 2019

4 Enriching Our Guests’ Lives In addition to serving over 1,000 nutritious and delicious meals each weekday, we provide social services to support guests in living more manageable and fulfilling lives.

2019 saw Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen staff and volunteers facilitate over 70,000 social service interactions, approximately 10,000 more than the previous year, which averages out to approximately 200 guest services daily.

To better serve our guests, we continue to increase the scope of our services through partnerships with organizations like Janian Mental Health Services and NYU Dental, and others that provide assistance with benefits like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, as well as housing and job prospects.

Guests Are Invited to Participate In: PARTNER SUPPORT • Computer Labs We appreciate the support of organizations including: • Wednesday Haircuts • Clothing Distributions Blaze PR 2,000 pairs of socks • Medical Screenings Bombas 1,000 pairs of socks • Discussion Groups Delivering Good 400 toiletry bags • Meditation Sessions • Writers Workshop New York Cares 300 coats • Tuesday Movie Screenings Sleeping Bag Project 40 sleeping bags • IIC English as a Second Softer Streets 200 air mattresses Language Classes Tapestry 3,000 toiletry bags

We’re also grateful for the generosity of the Friends and Family of Andy Stallman, which has helped our computer lab grow. In 2019, 2,204 guests improved their skills and applied for jobs on our computers.

When you walk in here, you’re greeted I enjoy being here, the music, by a volunteer and you immediately the Writers Den, the people. smile because you see someone you Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen gives know. I’ve developed a social group here. me a chance to get away from I have a computer at home, but I still being homeless. It’s life-giving. come to the soup kitchen’s computer lab. I look forward to coming here. - Maurice - Michael

5 OUR IMPACT: Essential Services Provided

33,001 Hygiene Products Items of Clothing 11,185 9,284 Haircuts and Vouchers Mail Pickups 6,752 1,696 Reading Glasses Phone Use 1,083 1,685 ID Cards Housing Referrals 386 Health and Rehab 248 Referrals

6 Our Menus

Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen is the largest soup kitchen in New York State, and the second largest in the country. In 2019, we served 14,000 gallons of dairy and 78,000 pounds of apples sourced from farms upstate. Our priority is creating a safe space for our guests to enjoy delicious and nutritious meals, with a menu that changes daily. A vegetarian meal is always available, and we prepare holiday-focused meals for Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Meals are often accompanied by live music performed by volunteers.

SAMPLE MENU MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY • Parmesan • Turkey • Salisbury Steak • Barbecued • Garlic Ragu Broiled Tilapia Meatloaf with Mushroom Chicken Pasta • Sautéed Spinach • Mashed Gravy • Roasted • Butter & Parsley • Rice & Bean Potatoes • Mashed Potatoes Potatoes Sautéed Spinach Pilaf • Vegetarian • Glazed Carrots • Corn on the • Kale Salad with • Tossed Salad Beans with Orange Cob Plum Tomatoes • Seasonal Fruit • Caesar Salad Marmalade • Cabbage Salad • Seasonal Fruit • Whole Milk • Seasonal Fruit • Tossed Salad • Seasonal Fruit • 1% Milk • Juices / Iced • Fresh 1% Milk • Seasonal Fruit • 1% Milk • Juices / Iced Te a • Juices / Iced • 1% Milk • Juices / Iced Te a Te a • Juices / Iced Te a Te a

Thanks to Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen I Me and my daughter rely on it for lunch and have a good meal every weekday, and I feel we think the food is excellent! appreciated! - Soup Kitchen Guest - Soup Kitchen Guest

7 Operating More Sustainably In the United States, up to 40% of the food produced is Focusing on wasted. Here at the Soup Kitchen, we’re keeping waste Zero Waste to a minimum and reducing our carbon footprint to We compost 3,600 ensure our operations are as sustainable as possible. pounds of organic Chef Michael Ottley, our Chief Operating Officer, has waste each week for built relationships with farmers, purveyors, and food a total of 187,200 rescue organizations to ensure fresh ingredients for pounds annually. In our meals, and implemented composting and recycling 2019, we prevented programs. He helped bring the first farmers markets to 642,637 pounds Chelsea in 2014 and, thanks to a partnership he formed of carbon dioxide with the NYC Department of Sanitation, we’ve been a equivalent from being neighborhood composting site since 2018. produced. Partners include NYU Wagner Cooking With Capstone, Sustainable Kitchen, and Taproot. We’ve Rescued Food also enjoyed working with Stone Barn Center for Food Over the past year and Agriculture and students from the High School for we served 343,094 Environmental Studies, who learn about our work by meals, cooked rescuing food from farmers markets and preparing a with 345,767 meal for our guests. pounds of rescued food.

Harvesting Our Community Garden Guests and visitors are now greeted by our raised bed vegetable garden. In three harvests, we yielded 594 pounds of green leafy vegetables and distributed them to families in our weekend meals program. We partner with City Bees and Peas to grow hydroponically during the colder months so that we can continue serving our families who may not have access to fresh, organic vegetables. Thanks to United Way and Food Bank for NYC for supporting this initiative.

Paying It Forward Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen partners with Career through the Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) by inviting high school culinary students to volunteer at the annual Farm to Tray Harvesting Honey event. In 2019, the bees on our roof generated their third harvest of honey. The hives have yielded 50 pounds of honey annually since 2017. 8 Getting Involved We Our Volunteers Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen was started October 22, 1982, by Church members and residents of the Chelsea community who didn’t want to see their neighbors go hungry. Volunteers are at the heart of our work, sharing their time, talent, and energy. What 5,000+ unites us is the belief that everyone deserves essentials like hot meals, hope for the VOLUNTEER HOURS future, and a second chance. • Lucy Beninati • Sister Dorothy Collins In 2019, we worked with 15,662 volunteers, who donated 52,570 hours, assisting • Joe DeGennaro with daily meal service, the Backpack Pantry Program, and Sunday Supper. The • Lucia De Vivo Good Corporate Citizen program brought employees into the Soup Kitchen from106 corporations, and we welcomed students from 127 schools and 31 colleges. A special • Coula Farris thanks to groups including Milbank LLP, Whole Foods Market, Guggenheim, Eastern • Richard Landman Funding, Tapestry, Edrington Americas, AQR Capital, Arthur J. Gallagher, Justworks, • Richard Longinetti Amazon, Allianz Global, Fluent, Investors Bank, Santander, Jamestown, and Google. • Joan McKibben • Mohamad Mohamad • Albert Monde, III • Oswaldo Rodrigues

Volunteering truly is an experience I started volunteering with that feeds the soul. I was not prepared Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in for the emotions that soup kitchen 2003, and it was love at first volunteering would make me feel. I volunteering. felt a sense of fulfillment that I was - Donna Lamb completely taken by surprise. - Mark Robinson

9 Collaborating with Community Partners

We’ve grown a lot since serving 35 meals that first day in 1982. Along the way, individuals, corporations, foundations, volunteers, as well as chefs and restaurants from the Chelsea community and beyond, have found a variety of ways to support our work. We’re grateful for their loyalty, and extend Partnering with Holy thanks to Hudson Guild, Chelsea Elliott Houses, Fulton Houses, Penn South, Apostles Soup Kitchen and P.S. 33, which enabled us to expand the reach of our meal programs. gives us the opportunity to help improve the lives of many New Yorkers in our community in an environmentally sustainable way. Google is proud to support these efforts to combat hunger in the city.

Kim Huskey, Food Program Manager, Google

Sunday Supper In April, we debuted our monthly Sunday Supper, which welcomes New Yorkers of all ages to a family-style meal. The dinners, presented by Google, and also made possible thanks to Jamestown and West Side Community Fund, served 2,122 families and community members.

Holiday Toy Giveaway In December, we partnered with the Uniformed Fire Offices Association of NYC Branch IAFF Local 854 (UFOA) and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s office for the second annual Holiday Toy Giveaway. We distributed over 1,000 new toys and Santa came by for a special visit with the children.

Community Grants • The Soup Kitchen was awarded a $10,000 Chelsea Hudson Yards Innovation Grant, used for Sunday Supper and the Backpack Pantry Program.

• We received a $100,000 grant from the NYC Complete Count Fund to serve as a 2020 census outreach center.

10 Showing Your Support for Our Work

Farm to Tray In May, we hosted our 7th annual Farm to Tray event and honored New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson for his dedicated support of the Soup Kitchen’s work. The event invited chefs from across the city to prepare a tasting menu mirroring the Soup Kitchen’s commitment to using locally grown produce. Attendees enjoyed food and beverage samplings from restaurants including Jams, Thalassa, Gitano NYC, Kimchi Smoke, Bodega Negra, and Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria. Whole Foods Market paid tribute to the Women of Farm to Tray: Shakira Cruz of Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, Kim Huskey of Food@Google, Ginger Pierce of Jams, and Caroline Schiff of ParadigmSchiff. In 2019,Farm to Tray raised over $400,000 in cash and in-kind donations for the Soup Kitchen’s meal programs and social services.

Fast-A-Thon Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen’s annual peer-to-peer fundraiser, culminated on Giving Tuesday, raising over $56,000. Fast-A-Thon rallies supporters to create their own fundraising campaign while pledging to eat one meal that day, in solidarity with Soup Kitchen guests whose only meal comes from Holy Apostles. Since 2012, Fast-A-Thon has raised over $477,000 from nearly 4,000 supporters and increased awareness about hunger and homelessness in New York City. The campaign is generously supported by Investors Bank.

Layers of Love Have Their Back(packs) We raised $7,803 during We collected over $12,500, our winter pop-up enough to fill more than fundraiser, to provide 500 backpacks for city 780 Soup Kitchen guests children and their families with a package of warm over the summer. gloves, socks, thermals, and a hat.

Giving back to the community One of my top priorities as Speaker of the is important to me, and it gives New York City Council is to strengthen the me great pride to know that I’m social safety net and assist New Yorkers helping feed hungry New Yorkers who are most in need. I’m proud to have Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen as a partner in by participating in Farm to Tray and feeding hungry and homeless New Yorkers volunteering with my son. who have nowhere else to turn. Chef/Owner Robert Austin Cho, Corey Johnson, New York City Council Speaker Kimchi Smoke 11 Your Support Helps Us Feed New Yorkers We’re dedicated to being good stewards of the money you entrust us with, to provide essentials like food, clothing, and social services to each of our guests, and help them navigate towards improved health, housing, and jobs.

provides bagged lunches for 125 feeds a guest each weekday for a school children experiencing month. $28 $750 homelessness.

makes locally-grown fruit available sponsors a full day of Soup Kitchen $65 to 500 Soup Kitchen guests. $1,300 meal service (1000+ meals).

provides a family of four with covers 10 veterans’ lunches $150 weekend meals for a month. $2,500 each weekday for a year.

feeds a hungry New Yorker every $336 weekday for a year.

12 Meet a Few Of Our Guests

Charlise is a native clothing and most recently assistance with a housing New Yorker who, after application.“I’m overwhelmed by the love and 38 years in the same concern I feel here.” apartment, was thrown out so that the owners Sally was living in a sublet but when she found out could raise the rent that the apartment had been illegally rented, she to market value. She’s was told to vacate immediately. “I never imagined I’d been fearful of going be one of those people, but now I am. I don’t have to a shelter, and for a home to call my own.” Though she has yet to find the past several years a permanent place to live, she finds it comforting to she’s been staying with talk with our staff and volunteers who have given her a friend or sleeping in some leads, and she has a place to go for a good meal Penn Station. She purchases an Amtrak ticket that and to pick up her mail. allows her to stay in the station’s waiting area a few hours a night. It’s been challenging to hold down Jerome first walked her part-time job, but she continues to work and is through our doors grateful for the support she has found at the Soup 10 years ago. He Kitchen. “I have a place to sit and relax here, which is was experiencing so important,” she told us. “I can receive my mail, and homelessness and pick up clothing when I need it. The social services he viewed the Soup staff has been really wonderful. I can’t say enough Kitchen as a safe haven good things about them!” to escape the brutal realities of life on the Daniel is a lifelong New streets. The free, hot Yorker and grandfather meal was an added of five who’s eating at benefit. Jerome began the Soup Kitchen almost using our on-site support services, like the computer every day. A former lab where he created an email account and sought welder, he’s legally assistance in his job search. Today, Jerome is living blind and without in stable housing and works at a Ford service center. work. “So many of He reconnected with his daughter and is now us are just getting by, experiencing the joys of being a grandparent. This steps away from being past Thanksgiving, he enjoyed a meal with his family homeless, and the for the first time in ten years. food, hospitality, and volunteers here are wonderful,” he said. In addition to meals, he has received free haircut vouchers,

Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen is important to me because…

It’s a loving, supportive, non-judgmental, safe It has saved my life in different ways. place. I love Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. It feels like family. - Soup Kitchen Guest - Soup Kitchen Guest

13 2019 Guest Survey (conducted in April) AGE:

Less 21 - 30: 31 - 40: 41 - 50: 51 - 60: 61 - 72: 73+: than 21: 3% 15% 15% 34% 17% 5% 2%

Employment Status: Education: 20% guests are employed 40% have a high school (half of whom are working diploma or GED part-time) 16% have a college degree 48% unemployed have college credits (32% retired) 13% 6% have vocational training 32% did not answer Vets: Living Status:

22% living on the streets 14% 22% living in a shelter have served in the military

Soup Kitchen have used our social Services: 55% services programs

14 Financials STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019 (Summarized Financial Information for the year ended December 31, 2018)

Without Donor With Donor Total REVENUE Restrictions Restrictions 2019 2018

Individuals 1,135,767 1,135,767 1,145,666 Bequest 237,509 9,202 246,711 222,288 Corporations 186,717 186,717 145,077 Foundations 703,382 703,382 581,944 Churches/Non-profits 16,532 16,532 36,251 Government grants 347,922 111,913 459,835 220,756 Donated food 565,074 565,074 581,757 Special Events 346,277 9,893 356,170 352,616 Net asset released from restrictions -

Total support, revenue and reclassifications 3,539,180 131,008 3,670,188 3,286,355

EXPENSES

Program services 2,889,398 2,889,398 2,549,681 Supporting services: General and Administrative 268,773 268,773 253,383 Development 459,205 459,205 451,356

Total Expenses 3,617,376 - 3,617,376 3,254,420

OTHER INCOME

Dividends and interest 43,173 43,173 56,521 Investment losses 228,420 228,420 (129,321) 271,593 271,593 (72,800)

Change In net assets 193,397 131,008 324,405 (40,865)

NET ASSETS - Beginning of the Year 2,927,297 2,927,297 2,968,162

NET ASSETS - End of the Year $3,120,694 $131,008 $3,251,702 $2,927,297

15 Financials STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019 (Summarized Financial Information as of December 31, 2018)

ASSETS 2018 2017

CURRENT ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $765,339 $957,752 Due from the Church 489,092 404,033 Contributions receivable 117,258 112,223 Grants receivable 183,817 62,617 Prepaid expenses 71,618 69,199 Investments 1,679,760 1,407,048

Total current assets 3,306,884 3,012,872

PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT Property and Equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $100,381 and $86,439 respectively 37,717 51,659

OTHER ASSETS Intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization $14,419 and $10,000 respectively 9,678 2,000

Total Assets $3,354,279 $3,066,531

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS

CURRENT LIABILITIES Account payable and accrued expenses $102,577 $139,234

NET ASSETS Without donor restrictions $3,120,694 $2,927,297 With donor restrictions $131,008

Total net assets $3,251,702 $2,927,297

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS $3,354,279 $3,066,531

Financial Statement and Annual Audit prepared by BKC Certified Public Accountants, PC.

16 Our Donors

ORGANIZATIONAL DONORS

96 CORPORATIONS 71 FOUNDATIONS 38 CHURCHES AND NONPROFITS

INDIVIDUAL GIFTS OF $500+

50% 40% <1% <1%

239 DONATIONS OF 220 DONATIONS OF 14 DONATIONS OF 9 DONATIONS OF $500-$999 $1,000-$4,999 $5,000-$9,999 $10,000-$25,000

We extend a heartfelt thank you to each of our donors for including Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in their 2019 charitable giving.

17 HOLY APOSTLES SOUP KITCHEN LEADERSHIP

STAFF The Rev. Dr. Anna S. Pearson Executive Director

Michael Ottley Chief Operating Officer

OFFICERS Wardens Tom Cunningham Louise Tranford

Treasurer Joseph Lipari

Assistant Treasurer Richard Longinetti

Vestry Tina Barth Patrizia Eakins Martin Elizabeth Farren Robert J. Frisby Denise Hibay Donna Lamb Mark Larrimore Charles Mohacey Norma Moy-Chin Steven Ragos Elizabeth Strickland Dennis Warlick

Report written and conceived by Cara Taback. Report designed by Bluefish Design. Black and white cover photos courtesy of Laurie Frankel. Color photo on the cover, top left p8, and middle right p9 courtesy of Mario Nicholas Torres. 1918 Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen’s mission is to feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, seek justice for the homeless, and provide a sense of hope and opportunity to those in need.

Learn more at holyapostlessoupkitchen.org.

@HolyApostlesNYC 296 Ninth Avenue New York, NY 10001-5703 holyapostlessoupkitchen (212) 924-0167 holyapostlessoupkitchen

Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen provides resources Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen means it’s a helping to our families in ways that we cannot. Thank hand to everyone. It provides me a meal, and a you to the generous donors and volunteers seat with strangers who have become neighbors who make the brown bag lunches and and friends. Backpack Pantry Program possible for our students and families in need. - Male, 45-54, employed part-time - Cindy Wang, Principal of P.S. 33 19