QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) – The numbers are really disturbing.
More than 1.3 million New Yorkers go to bed hungry every night.
But now, Mets fans are trying to help those who are food insecure with their annual summer food drive.
Exuberant fans lined up hours before Friday night’s game to donate at least 10 non-perishable items per person to soup kitchens and food pantries across the five boroughs. In return, they received a voucher for two tickets to a select 2025 Mets regular-season home game.
The Amazin’ Mets Foundation has been hosting this summer food drive for more than a decade.
“Our fans are so incredibly generous,” Jane Son, head of Amazin Mets Foundation and Community Engagement, told PIX11 News. “And this is a very difficult time for so many New Yorkers. “They come to support the team and the community they are in,” she added.
One Mets fan knew about food insecurity firsthand.
“I grew up in the struggles, so getting food wasn’t easy for my mother,” Lach Dass, a Mets fan making a donation, told PIX11 News. “Whatever we got, we took it with pride and just kept on going, and then I thought I could do my part,” he added.
This annual summer food drive is presented by 1pointFive, a carbon capture company.
All non-perishables are being collected by the Food Bank for New York City, where food insecurity is a growing issue.
“There are 1.3 million New Yorkers who are food insecure,” Melanie Buhrmaster, VP for philanthropy, Food Bank For NYC, told PIX11 News. “The food goes out to 800 food pantries and soup kitchens to make sure we are feeding our friends and neighbors,” she added.
One of those online was Michael Aviles from Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
“I have Campbell’s, Progresso, and chunky beef soup. I bought it. It’s going to waste, or they can go to those that don’t have,” Aviles told PIX11 News.
To many Mets fans, it was a family affair, a chance to teach younger ones about giving back.
“It’s good so am helping the poor,” Jax Anderson, 11 years old, told PIX11 News. “And I am getting free Mets tickets,” he added with a smile.
And even Mets players’ partners joined in, like pitcher Reed Garrett’s wife, son, and daughter.
“Any chance we have, we try to give back,” Mary Garrett, the pitcher’s wife, told PIX11 News. “It’s more than baseball, it’s community and about giving back,” she added.
The Food Bank table will be back on Saturday from 1 pm to 4:30 PM.
