Students at a Jewish day school on the Upper West Side decided to tackle the problem of hunger during the pandemic.
So they planted a tree —- a pan-tree —- at 107th and Columbus and filled it with food. Science teacher Allison Levine of the Schechter Manhattan school said it’s aptly named.
“It’s at a community garden and we chose to put it on the perimeter versus inside because we wanted it to be available 24 hours a day,” she said. “The community garden allowed us to chain it to the fence so it’s sitting in a bucket of concrete on the sidewalk and the back of it is linked on there.”
Levine said there’s been no problem keeping it stocked.
“It’s in a pretty prominent area so people see it and they pass by it and maybe they bring stuff to fill it,” she said. “I know also a lot of the members of the community garden knew about this project and they were involved in allowing us to do it. They’re local to the neighborhood and I think that they often contribute as well.”
Levine said there’s also a QR code tied to the pantry.
“People can scan and it links to a form letting us know when you stop by the pantry is the pantry full, 3/4 full, half full, a quarter full or empty and people can also request things,” she said.
There’s a low tech way to do it too. If you’re walking by the pantry and see that it’s empty, just raise the little arm on the side, like a mailbox, and when the students check on it, they’ll know it needs a fill-up.
According to City Harvest, one in three children living in NYC lacks consistent access to healthy, nutritious food – a 64% increase over pre-pandemic figures.
To learn more about the Schechter Manhattan 107th Street Food Pan-TREE or to make a donation, please visit schechtermanhattan.org/campaigns/schechter-manhattan-chanukah-match.