On Thursday, Sept. 24, from 11 a.m until 2:00 p.m., Lincoln Center, in partnership with Food Bank for New York City, will host a pop-up food pantry.

Musicians from the New York Philharmonic, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and Met Orchestra Musicians will provide music for those standing in line to receive fresh produce and shelf-stable items. New York’s premiere culture center anticipates the pop-up pantry will assist nearly 500 New York families. Included in the distribution are frozen meals donated by Tiller & Hatch and plant-based protein from Impossible Foods.

Thursday’s event is the second time Lincoln Center has partnered with Food Bank and is one of a series of pop-up pantries. Others have occurred at the Barclays Center and Yankee Stadium, as well as other high-profile venues around New York, supporting September’s designation as Hunger Action Month. Food Bank has worked with brands, advocates, influencers, and New Yorkers to combat food insecurity within the city. Prior to the pandemic, 12.2% of Manhattan residents and 14.6% of children in the borough were food insecure, according to the Lincoln Center press release. These conditions have worsened as the pandemic forced 15.9% of the city’s workers onto the unemployment rolls. That represents a 3.7% increase year-over-year. If these statistics weren’t grim enough, 13% of the pantries and soup kitchens have closed since the start of the pandemic, leaving thousands of New Yorkers questioning where and when they will obtain their next meal. The pop-up pantries augment the soup kitchens and pantries that remain open. These locations report double the number of visitors seeking food assistance. The number of New Yorkers in need of food was already a staggering 1.2 million pre-pandemic, making the need for expanded distribution centers critical.

SNAP resources along with NYC Census 2020 and voter registration cards will be available on-site to help and encourage census completion and voter registration. Families are asked to enter Lincoln Center at 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues.