Helps Feed Hungry New Yorkers

Each week Dr. Denise C. Murphy, Clinical Associate Professor of General Dentistry and Management Science and Director of the Ergonomics Training Program, spends one lunch hour as a City Harvest “Street-Fleet” volunteer, helping New York’s only food rescue program fulfill its mission of creating a link between those who have too much food and those who have too little. “In the New York area,” says Dr. Murphy, “millions of pounds of good, edible food are thrown away each year by food businesses, while an estimated 1.5 million people go hungry.” Dr. Murphy’s weekly assignment is to pick up 15-20 pounds of baked goods at a Starbucks Coffee outlet at 23rd Street and Third Avenue; check to make sure that the food is still fresh; weigh it; and bring it to a homeless shelter two blocks away. “There are so many food businesses in the NYUCD area with excess food that could be donated,” she says. “And it only requires a one-hour commitment – one lunch hour – per week. I hope that others from our community will consider joining me.”