Emily Brett
4:48:49
Hi, my name is Emily Brett.
4:48:51
Thank you to the city council for this time today and for your persistence over five hours of testimony.
4:48:56
I'm the director of the Greenpoint Hunger Program under executive director Anne Kansfield and I'm here today to ask for the restoration of CFC's full $100,000,000 for the next fiscal year.
4:49:06
I know many of you already hold this opinion as well, but I'm here to preach to the choir on the record and encourage your continued aggressive advocacy.
4:49:14
Our lines are not as long as they were in 2024, they are longer and it does not make sense to duplicate a budget when we are no longer facing duplicate circumstances.
4:49:23
Our pantry has faced a 125% increase in clients and those numbers continue to rise.
4:49:29
Guests expressed to me that their need is growing and that they're anxious for what's to come.
4:49:34
We cannot continue to rely on the same amount of funding when we do not have the same number of guests.
4:49:39
Yesterday at my pantry we saw over a hundred guests, several of them families with young children.
4:49:45
Hunger is not just about nutrition, it's about mental health, it's about dignity, it's about the knowledge that someone in your community, whether it's a parent or a teacher or a member of your city council cares about you and wants you to be here.
4:49:59
And to that end, I would express to this council that a denial of CFC's full $100,000,000 funding is a choice to allow hunger into our city, a choice that doesn't just make New York a worse, less livable city, but makes it more dangerous.
4:50:13
A fed child is a child who can focus, who can learn, who can go to school, and who can play.
4:50:19
A hungry child or a hungry person is in danger not just physically but mentally.
4:50:23
They're at risk for depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicidality and violence.
4:50:29
Hunger is not just a physical sensation but it is a destabilizing threat that can undo communities, families and individuals.
4:50:35
To briefly zoom out on the large scheme of this budget, the choice to give CFC its $100,000,000 share while giving the the choice not to give CFC its $100,000,000 share while giving the NYPD over $3,000,000,000 isn't just an act of absurdity, it's an act of hypocrisy.
4:50:49
Guns and tasers on the subway do not make our kids safer.
4:50:52
Food on the table makes our kids safer.
4:50:54
Please expand this budget to give pantries what we need to do our essential work.
4:50:57
If you want to keep New York safe, please keep New Yorkers fed.
4:51:00
Thank you for your time.
