To see NewsCred’s volunteers in action click here…..
November 6, 2014. It is 5:00 PM at 28th Street, Park Avenue South, in downtown Manhattan. Content marketing business NewsCred’s capacious office space is located on the 6th floor of a spiffy edifice flanking the 28th Street green line subway station, where almost every employee is sitting at a desk behind a computer, except a small group of volunteers who have opted to take part in this evening’s Hunger van program.
“There is a legal definition for hunger in this country,” Zamir Hassan, founder of Muslims Against Hunger, Faith Against Hunger, and Hunger Van begins lecturing, standing next to a large, modern kitchen island surrounded by ten or so attentively listening people from NewsCred.
“The number of hungry Americans is about 49 million, and this is not acceptable. We don’t know as a nation what’s going on; we really must get involved at every level.” He explains to the crew that the project started at a soup kitchen in the year 2000. “This is not about food per se; it’s about the experience (of assisting people through charity).”
After carefully making Honey-B sandwiches, which consist of banana slices over peanut butter on whole wheat slices flavored with a drizzle of honey and cinnamon, and Chickaroo salads, or shredded salad greens, pineapple, peas, chopped baby carrots, and avocado oil garnished with sunflower seeds, cranberries, cherry tomatoes, and essential spices, the meals will be conveyed in the van to Tompkins Square Park.
This is probably everyone’s first time with Hunger Van. Jasmine Cortez tells me all of the employees have a different job here: some are in marketing, some in sales, one person is an office manager. The volunteers have covered some of the tables in the office’s kitchen area with hygienic brown paper and divide themselves in groups to prepare the sandwiches and salads, pleasantly chatting as they work. More people wander in to take part in the process of making Hunger Van meals, and some leave.
U
zma Kaleem, the HUNGER VAN hosting event coordinator at NewsCred to whom I am introduced, tells me NewsCred is starting its own social responsibility effort, so they will be doing this sort of thing more frequently. Everyone is very enthusiastic about working for the community, getting behind causes and non-profits they really care about, and the numbers seem to be just right for it.
Diana of NewsCred states, “This is my first time volunteering for Hunger Van. They come to our office so it’s easier to do good; you get to go out and deliver meals, so it’s hands-on; and you get to work with your friends.”
After all the meals are assembled and ready to be loaded, Uzma says that on Wednesday evening there’s a yoga class at seven, and on Friday, it’s free lunch. There’s usually something different going on every day of the week. The program works best when it’s in the house, since you lose half of the people by moving from point A to B. There were at least 20 volunteers on the list agreeing to work in 30 minute increments or for one full hour, whereas some people will stay for the whole program. News Cred generally volunteers once a month, to serve the community, although the frequency might increase. It was with a great amount of hospitality Hunger Van was sponsored this Wednesday by NewsCred, and everyone enjoyed doing service helping the needy.
To see NewsCred’s volunteers in action click here…..
About NewsCred
NewsCred is the leading content marketing platform. Pairing cutting-edge software with world-class content, we transform brands into storytellers.NewsCred’s Content Marketing Cloud© provides the easiest end-to-endsolution for content planning, creation, publishing and analytics. In one place, brands gain unprecedented access to the world’s largest content marketplace, including licensed content from over 4,000 publishers and original content from our award-winning journalist network. Through NewsCred, global brands like Pepsi, P&G, Dell, General Electric and AIG have seen explosive growth in social sharing, engagement and lead generation. Founded in 2008 by Shafqat Islam, Iraj Islam and Asif Rahman,NewsCred has offices in New York, Dhaka, London and is backed by FirstMark Capital, Mayfield Fund, IA Ventures, Greycroft Partners and others.
About HUNGER VAN
The Hunger Van was born in 2011 because Muslims Against Hunger founder Zamir Hassan, a practicing Muslim and resident of Bedminster, New Jersey decided that if hungry people such as the ones congregating around parks and train stations, could not come to the food, the food would come to them in vans, conveniently packaged and ready to eat. The cost of producing one hot meal is $6.07 and $4.85 for cold ones; and meals as well as events are donation-based. Sponsors are encouraged to raise funds for the feeding event. All of the food is vegan and can last for a long period of time without spoiling. for more information about Hunger Van project click here
The author of this blog, Alice M. Baskous, is a New Jersey resident and Hunter College grad who works in and frequents Manhattan Island where she spends many of her hours studying French, walking around, and writing poetry as well as fiction. She does community service with the homeless as well as hungry locals of Tompkins Square Park in downtown New York City three times a week between 10 AM and 11, and also at other Hunger Van sponsored events.
