Please help us continue bringing some comfort and warmth to those whose home is a cold sidewalk and a hard concrete bed. Your gift can help us make the simplest gesture – a warm drink on a freezing day – seems like the greatest gift anyone can give.
“Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,” Jesus told us. The Breadline, which has been feeding the hungry since 1930 is supported solely by donations from people of generous heart and spirit. Every day, at 7 AM, a line forms down 31st street in New York City and each guest receives a sandwich, a cup of coffee, and a simple slice of cake.
No one is ever turned away.
In New York, 2,090,550 people are facing hunger – and of them 626,450 are children. 1 in 6 children face hunger. People facing hunger in New York are estimated to report needing $1,182,879,000 more per year to meet their food needs.
Over the course of City fiscal year 2020, 122,926 different homeless adults and children slept in the New York City municipal shelter system. This includes more than 39,300 homeless children.
Research shows that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is lack of affordable housing. Surveys of homeless families have identified the following major immediate, triggering causes of homelessness: eviction; doubled-up or severely overcrowded housing; domestic violence; job loss; and hazardous housing conditions.
The St. Francis Breadline is in desperate and urgent need of your support! By giving a “Meal To Heal”, you are letting our homeless brothers and sisters living on the street know they are not forgotten.
For the past 91 years, the St. Francis Breadline has provided meals to over 250 men, women and families each morning outside of our friary in Midtown Manhattan. This year, we need your help raising $150,000 to continue our lifesaving work with the poor. So many are fed, sheltered, cared for and given some dignity in life because of you and the help you give us. Without you and your generosity, so many more would go hungry.
What if your life depended on a diet of sliced cheese, deli meat and white bread? For many people who walk our breadline, that is the reality. For just $5.00 you can give a meal and provide a man or woman in need with what might be their only food of the day.
Imagine not having access to fresh food?
For many people who are homeless, elderly, or shut-in, that is the reality. For just $45.00 you can provide a man or woman in need with a lifesaving bag of fresh groceries delivered by volunteers at Franciscan Deliver.
Help us continue the work we’ve been doing on the St. Francis Breadline for over 86 years: feeding the hungry and showing mercy to all we meet in the spirit of St. Francis. We would not be able to bring the light of Christ to so many without your care and financial support.
Every week our members choose which grocery items they want, and then our volunteers pack and deliver their order to their front door. We believe that client choice—members choosing the items they want—enhances a person’s dignity while it addresses individual preferences for food. Our food is top-quality and we ensure that our members are offered meats, cereals, fresh produce, eggs, milk, coffee, and dessert every week. But the most important thing this great team of volunteers delivers is the joyful spirit of St. Francis.
The St. Francis Breadline helps guests like Eric fill their refrigerators when food stamps often run out.
The St. Francis Breadline gives volunteers and guests an opportunity to interact and meet.
Charlie is a New York City Police Officer called to volunteer and serve the less fortunate.
We Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province follow the teachings and example of our founder, St. Francis of Assisi. His way was to follow in the footsteps of Jesus by living simply and helping those less fortunate, forgotten, unaccepted, and rejected by our society. Starting with a small group of followers 800 years ago, the Franciscans are now a worldwide movement that is still committed to helping the poor and marginalized. We call our
ministry Franciscan Bread for the Poor, and in the tradition of our founder, we provide food to all those who are in need. However, our purpose goes beyond distributing food on our breadline or delivering groceries to seniors. Of all the things that defined St. Francis, joy, compassion, and hope are still the fundamental values we cherish and which are at the heart of what we serve and share with those less fortunate.
