BY GRANT LANCASTER
The Howard Hughes Corporation has worked to provide emergency support in the form of food and donations to community members and first responders amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
This aid has included donating N95 masks to firefighters, providing pizza and bagels for NYPD officers, supplying food for nonprofits serving seniors and helping small businesses serving the community stay open.
The company provided food for Grand Street Settlement’s program to provide groceries to about 500 New York City seniors so they can avoid going out, said Clovis Thorn, managing director of development and communications for Grand Street Settlement.
Grand Street Settlement had offered a meal delivery service, but it was not always enough to keep seniors from needing to go out for other groceries, Thorn said. The bags of groceries Howard Hughes Corporation provided have helped meet that goal.
Reacting to the pandemic has been different than other natural disasters because the consequences have been more long-term, requiring greater sustained support for New Yorkers in need, Thorn said.
“It’s a different type of disaster, but I don’t think the response has been any less robust,” Thorn said.
In addition to supporting community aid organizations, the corporation has contributed to small businesses like the nonprofit Fulton Stall Market, which sells goods from local producers and offers community classes on cooking, farming and other agricultural and sustainability skills.
Howard Hughes Corporation contributes to the market normally, but has increased their contribution during the crisis so that the owner, Bob Lewis, who is in his 70s, can stay home where his risk of infection is lessened, Lewis said.
In addition to supporting the market’s staff, the corporation provided sanitation equipment that has been crucial to keeping the market open, Lewis said.
Although many of the in-person and outdoor programs at the market have been postponed, the market is open for shoppers and their Community Supported Agriculture food share program is more active than ever, Lewis said.
“From heroic first responders to some of our community’s most vulnerable residents, HHC is proud to play a role in making life a little easier right now during this unprecedented crisis — and to support local businesses in the process,” said Saul Scherl, president of the New York Tri-State Region at the Howard Hughes Corporation.
