![\"Martina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Martina_Santos_Pic_3-rotated.jpg\" "\\"How")
<\/a>Martina Santos, WSCAH volunteer.Photo courtesy of WSCAH<\/p>\nSixteen years later, she continues to honor her ties to WSCAH. \u201cWhatever I can give, I give it to this place because I owe this place.\u201d As one of the 2,000 volunteers, Santos works alongside 30 staff members to alleviate hunger across New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not hiding away in offices somewhere. We\u2019re just a team trying to feed people,\u201d said CEO and Executive Director Greg Silverman, emphasizing the organization\u2019s culture of hands-on collaboration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Set up in 1979 with a humble $5,000 grant in the basement of St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church, WSCAH grew into a powerhouse front-line pantry, tending annually to an upwards of 120,000 customers. Though the headquarters remain on 263 West 86th Street, massive demand necessitated the addition of a 13,000 square foot warehouse on 180th Street capable of holding 170,000 pounds of food.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having pioneered the customer-choice supermarket style model adopted throughout the country, WSCAH prides itself on the dignity extended to clients through direct influence over available inventory. \u201c70% of what we give out is purchased. We talk to our customer community. We find out what foods they want, whether that\u2019s from diet or cultural sensitivities,\u201d said Silverman.<\/p>\n
In response to requests for healthier options, 52-54% of distributed food is fresh produce. With a culinary background as a chef and restaurant owner, Silverman was able to apply his passion for curating quality meals to communities that need them most.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sold my restaurants and decided that I would focus solely on fighting hunger, making sure not just customers of my restaurants got food. Everyone should have healthy, tasty food on their plates and the access to that,\u201d\u00a0 he said of his industry pivot.\u00a0<\/p>\n During his early days at WSCAH, when a large donor delivery arrived, \u201ca truckload of salt, sugar, and fat,\u201d he realized \u201csometimes folks sacrifice client health and well-being for poundage.\u201d He sent the donation back and, at that moment, made the executive decision to \u201cstop taking junk.\u201d In cooperation with local farmers, they now lean into seasonality and peak harvests.\u00a0<\/p>\n For consumers like Santos, who suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes, a proper diet is essential for managing medical conditions. Prior to discovering WSCAH and its resources, she would sometimes skip meals to avoid sudden spikes. \u201cI don\u2019t want to go to the hospital because I ate canned food,\u201d she said, referring to ultra-processed foods high in sodium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite many achievements, Silverman is by no means done innovating, saying, \u201cWhen someone tells me there\u2019s only one or two ways to do these things, I\u2019m going to say \u2018you\u2019re completely wrong\u2019, each and every time.\u201d Besides constantly adding new neighborhood distribution sites, WSCAH is implementing outreach strategies, like home deliveries and mobile trucks, to save distant residents\u2019 inconvenience and transit fare.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For Silverman, transforming the emergency feeding system is a challenge requiring economic strategy: \u201cWe live in America, an entrepreneurial place,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do what we can to free up the city and state dollars to make sure they get directly to organizations doing great work.\u201d<\/p>\n These efforts are especially critical now, at a time when \u201cfood insecurity has never been higher.\u201d Cuts to SNAP under the budget reconciliation law, according to Silverman, are likely to strain the lifeline for subsequent years. \u201cPassing on the cost of the program and its administration to the state level,\u201d he said, \u201cwill theoretically lead to a $2 billion a year budget hole for New York.\u201d Not only will benefits become increasingly scarce but also devalued in relation to inflation.<\/p>\n Silverman called the food stamp disruption caused by the government shutdown that lasted until November 12, 2025, \u201ca test run of what\u2019s to come.\u201d But for Santos and fellow recipients, this was \u201cnot a temporary crisis\u201d but \u201cthe worst nightmare\u201d\u2014one they haven\u2019t yet awoken from despite the restoration of SNAP.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people were depressed. Some people experienced domestic violence. Some people drank more than they drank before,\u201d she said, relaying what neighbors had shared about those harrowing weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n The administration\u2019s enabling of SNAP suspensions was evidence of disregard for the already underserved communities of Americans. \u201cThey forget the people who voted for their promises. They never, never, never fight for those people,\u201d Santos said, adding wryly that, sometimes, she finds herself wondering whether \u201cthey have amnesia or selective memory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At the same time, Santos \u201cwould like to tell people they\u2019re not alone\u201d in their experience of neglect. To those left to fend for themselves, she says, \u201cYou\u2019ve got WSCAH here.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Greg_WSCAH-5.jpg\" "\\"How")
<\/a>Greg Silverman, CEO and Executive Director of WSCAH.Photo courtesy of WSCAH<\/p>\n![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Greg_COVID-Distribution.jpg\" "\\"How")
<\/a>Greg Silverman, CEO and Executive Director of WSCAH.Photo courtesy of WSCAH<\/p>\n
![\"Martina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Martina-Santos-Pic-4-rotated.jpg\" "\\"How")
<\/a>Martina Santos and Greg Silverman.Photo courtesy of WSCAH<\/p>\n