Dear Friend,

Since I wrote to you before Rosh Hashanah last year, millions of pounds of food have passed through Masbia’s doors and into the hands of people who needed it.

One of the most notable developments was the opening of our new Upper West Side Annex just before Chanukah 2025, adjacent to America’s oldest Jewish congregation.

There are so many facets of our work I would like to report to you, but I know your time is limited. Instead, I want to share just a few people and moments that come to mind:

I think of the blind woman who arrived with her service dog on the very first day of service at our new Annex. She came to pick up food, but we realized how difficult that would be for her on an ongoing basis. We helped get her signed up to receive future groceries by DoorDash delivery.

I think of a single woman who recently converted to Judaism and moved to Boro Park. She came knocking on our door looking for food at the wrong time of day. Our pantry was not open, but Masbia office staff made sure she did not go home empty-handed.

At Masbia of Queens, we are now working with Queens College Hillel to deliver food to young adults in need, through a partnership facilitated by the New York Board of Rabbis.

We also work closely with the organization Sister to Sister, making a special effort to provide single mothers and their families with both groceries and cooked food, especially during the holiday season when putting food on the table can become an even greater burden.

Just last week, Masbia Relief was there for victims of a deadly fire in the Bronx.

And I think of an email we received from a young couple, both working professionals, who had fallen on hard times and suddenly found themselves without enough food for themselves and their two-year-old child. The email arrived on a Wednesday. We knew our next DoorDash deliveries in their neighborhood would not go out until Tuesday, so one of our staff members simply loaded up a substantial amount of food and delivered it to them personally.

Your charity dollars make moments like these possible. And thousands of stories like these unfold across the Masbia Soup Kitchen Network every week. That is not an exaggeration — it is simply a reflection of the number of people we serve. Every family has its own story.

And while many of these stories involve groceries and deliveries, that is only one part of Masbia. Every day, we also serve hot, nutritious dinners in-house to people who walk through our doors hungry and need a prepared meal served with dignity.

A donation of $72 sponsors one family grocery package. As the High Holiday season approaches, thousands of families will be turning to Masbia for groceries, cooked food, hot meals and deliveries to help them through the holidays.

We now operate four locations, moving millions of pounds of food throughout the year. But behind those enormous numbers are individual people and families who need someone to be there when they knock, call, email, walk through our doors, or simply have nowhere else to turn.

This High Holiday season, please make a generous donation and help us make sure we can continue to be there for them.

With gratitude,

Alexander Rapaport
Executive Director
Masbia Soup Kitchen Network

Donate here.

---