The Food Bank For New York City (a member of America’s Second Harvest, The Nation’s Food Bank Network) is (kind of unbelievably) the only food bank in Manhattan. Founded in 1983, it coordinates the procurement and distribution of food donations from manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and government agencies to organizations providing free food to the city’s hungry, meaning the more than two million New Yorkers who are struggling to put food on the table.

To date, The Food Bank for New York City has distributed more than 744 million pounds of food to more than 1,000 community and emergency food programs — including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, Kids Cafes, low-income daycare centers, and senior, youth, rehabilitation and outreach centers — throughout the five boroughs of New York City. This translates into more than 250,000 meals a day for New Yorkers who otherwise would go hungry or not eat enough, mostly women and children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and the working poor.

But things are looking a little thin at the moment. The facility normally stocks seven to eight million pounds of nutritious food, but a recent decrease in federal funding has left the Bronx warehouse with just three million.

The Food Bank needs food donations (from individuals or corporations), volunteers, community partners, and cash. And there are lots of ways to help. Go to Food Bank for NYC and click on NYC Goes Orange (the color of hunger awareness). You can donate directly, become a volunteer or a community partner. You can give to Daily Candy’s virtual food drive Daily Candy’s Virtual Food Drive or start a virtual food drive of your own (a dollar equals 5 meals).

It’s the holiday season. Time to work up an appetite for helping.