The 54th Summer Fancy Food Show plans to donate more than 100,000 pounds of specialty food to City Harvest, one of New York’s leading anti-hunger organizations, at the end of the show.

This is the 19th year Fancy Food Show exhibitors have given back to New York City through the efforts of NASFT, the show’s organizer, and City Harvest. This year’s event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is the largest yet, and the NASFT expects its donation of specialty food to City Harvest will also set records. ‘With hunger in America a growing issue today, we are eager to help increase supplies at soup kitchens and food pantries throughout New York,’ said Ann Daw, NASFT’s president.

As the last specialty food buyer leaves the exhibit floor at the Javits Center, the food rescue work will start. Some 300 volunteers from New York corporations, neighborhood groups, and individuals will navigate the aisles, picking up meat, cheese, produce, chocolate, beverages and dozens of other specialty food items left over from the show’s 2,000+ exhibitors from the U.S. and abroad.

City Harvest will deliver this food free of charge to more than 600 community food programs throughout New York City. Founded in 1982, City Harvest helps more than 260,000 hungry New Yorkers find their next meal each and every week. The donation from the Summer Fancy Food Show is one of the organization’s largest from a special event, and its biggest volunteer opportunity.

‘We are grateful to the NASFT and exhibitors at the Fancy Food Show for this extraordinary donation of gourmet and specialty food items,’ said Jilly Stephens, City Harvest’s executive director. ‘Our trucks will be on the road into the night so that food left over from this fantastic event can reach the hungry men, women and children who need it most. The food we collect will help provide some relief to city soup kitchens and food pantries that are now struggling to meet increased demand.’

Read more from the Fancy Food Show here.