New York Cares

New York Cares is New York City's largest nonprofit volunteer organisation, founded in 1987 to address a fragmented landscape in which volunteer opportunities were difficult to find. The organisation operates a centralised platform that connects tens of thousands of volunteers with service opportunities across all five boroughs, working with more than 400 partner schools and nonprofits and 150 corporate partners. Over 37 years of uninterrupted service it has recorded some 8 million volunteer hours.

Its year-round programmes span education, food security, senior support, environmental sustainability and community revitalisation, and collectively help more than 1 million New Yorkers annually. Beyond scheduled programming, New York Cares runs recurring large-scale initiatives, among them a winter coat drive that has distributed 2.5 million coats and meal efforts that have provided 70 million meals.

The organisation has also sustained crisis response work, including relief following 9/11, recovery operations after Hurricane Sandy and meal deliveries during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was established by a group of friends motivated to take action on serious social issues, and its model is built on hands-on, community-based volunteerism and on making service opportunities accessible to a broad base of participants in New York City.