FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2020
Contact: Dan Egan 518-258-8914
Feeding New York State Names Leslie Gordon as Board Chair
Feeding New York State’s Board of Directors has elected Leslie Gordon as Chair of the Board. Feeding New York State is the membership organization of ten Feeding America food banks in NY state; Gordon is the President and CEO of the Food Bank For New York City, one of the nation’s largest food banks.
Leslie Gordon has extensive experience leading anti-hunger organizations. Uniquely, she has led two of the network’s food banks: Feeding Westchester and Food Bank For New York City; she was also employed at City Harvest.
“New York’s food banks stepped up in 2020 like never before to support New Yorkers through COVID-19 from when we were the global epicenter of the outbreak through this second wave. And as we begin to understand the pandemic’s longer-term consequences for our health and economy, the fight against hunger remains as important as ever,” said Leslie Gordon, President and CEO of Food Bank For New York City and Incoming Board Chair of Feeding New York State. “With so many New Yorkers struggling, we must use every tool in our toolbox inside and outside of government to strengthen the safety net, take on food insecurity, and ensure that every one of our neighbors can put food on their table. I want to thank Paule Pachter, CEO of Long Island Cares-The Harry Chapin Food Bank, and immediate past-Chair of the Board for his leadership, and I look forward to standing with our partners across the state to advocate for the New Yorkers who need our support most.”
Leslie took Feeding Westchester to new heights by increasing the amount of food distributed by 20 percent – more than the average food bank in the nation.
In late March, Leslie joined Food Bank For New York City during an unprecedented time in the city’s history, when food insecurity rates were steadily rising due to the pandemic. Under her leadership, Leslie helped guide the strategies that enabled the organization to distribute more food than ever before. Since the start of the organization’s COVID-19 response, Food Bank has been able to provide more than 77 million meals to New Yorkers – an increase of nearly 70 percent compared to the same period last year.
Leslie previously served as the Senior Director of Program Strategy and Operations at City Harvest, where she helped pioneer a new strategy that positioned the organization to double the amount of food distributed annually. She has long been a leader in the not-for-profit world, having served as Executive Director of Best Buddies Pennsylvania and National Director, America’s Promise.
“Feeding NYS will have a great leader with Leslie as Chair of the Board,” said State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball. “Leslie has done incredible work in a very short time as the President of the Food Bank for NYC and has recently joined as a member of the NYS Council on Hunger and Food Policy, working to advise state initiatives that combat hunger in our communities. On behalf of the Department, I look forward to continuing to collaborate with Leslie and the Board on the State’s Nourish NY program, which, because of the strong partnerships between the State and the food banks, has helped reach more than 1 million New York households and impacted more than 4,000 farms.”
As Chair of Feeding NYS, Gordon will lead the state’s ten food banks, which are currently on track to distribute over 400 million pounds of food statewide this year.
About Feeding New York State
Feeding NYS’s mission is to ensure that every person in every community has access to good, healthy food. We help the food banks of New York State obtain more food, donations and volunteer support. In partnership with other advocates, we support public policy aimed at alleviating the problem of hunger. Feeding NYS’s network of food banks feeds millions of New Yorkers each year with the help of more than 5,000 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other non-profit feeding programs.
Feeding NYS covers every county in New York state. Our ten member food banks include: FeedMore WNY (Buffalo), Foodlink (Rochester), Food Bank of the Southern Tier (Elmira), Food Bank of Central New York (Syracuse), Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York (Latham), Feeding Westchester (Elmsford), Island Harvest Food Bank(Bethpage), Long Island Cares (Hauppauge), City Harvest (New York City) and Food Bank for New York City (NYC).
For more information about Feeding NYS, visit www.feedingnys.org.
