(Above: Gotbaum with Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, commissioner for the Department for the Aging, and Joyce Bove of NY Community Trust)
Today, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum attended the 23rd Annual Power Lunch for Women, hosted by Citymeals-on-Wheels. The event benefits the Citymeals program, which funds "30 community-based agencies that bring weekend, holiday and emergency meals to homebound elderly New Yorkers who can no longer shop or cook for themselves." This year's lunch honors Joan Weill, and Citymeals Vice Chair Joan Tisch.
“The number of meals served by City-supported soup kitchens and food pantries was nine percent higher in Spring 2008 than a year before. While Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to cut funding to these agencies in Fiscal Year 2008 was rebuffed by the City Council, Governor David Paterson and the State Legislature cut funding for emergency feeding programs twice in just the last six months, slashing their funding by 16% in April, and by another 6% in August. If these trends continue, or if, even worse, the City does cut funding too, the results will be catastrophic.”