South Asian Council for Social Services
Organization background

Founded in 2016, South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) is a food pantry and community service organization in Flushing , NY, whose mission is to empower and integrate underserved South Asians and other immigrants into NYC's economic and civic life. They typically serve 15,000+ clients a year.

Asian Americans have one of the highest poverty rates. SACSS's Food Pantry seeks to provide culturally palatable food to low-income, underserved and isolated South Asian and other immigrants in Queens, NY that are experiencing hunger and food shortage.

A large percentage of SACSS's clients are foreign-born and non-citizens which impacts their access to healthcare. Their lack of knowledge of English remains their primary barrier in accessing care, and also hinders their capability to navigate services, employment and other growth opportunities throughout the city. That is why, SACSS also provides other services such as free ESOL classes and computer literacy education; case management; assistance navigating through public benefit options; social services for seniors; civic engagement with government agencies to represent the interests of the target population.

Project background

The Food Pantry serves fresh vegetarian South Asian food such as rice, lentils, wheat, flour and spices that are also culturally relevant to the South Korean and Chinese communities. The pantry is a client choice model — where individuals are able to request and receive foods that are relevant to them. The service is in such high demand that clients line up at 7.30am for food distribution that only begins at 10.30am.

As COVID-19 overtook NYC, SACSS explored ways to continue the food distribution safely and came up with an Emergency Food Distribution program that offers curbside pickup and delivers hot meals & grocery bags to those clients who were unable to make it to the food pantry.

Due to the increasing number of clients who use the food and other services, SACSS has found it necessary to move into a bigger space, and are planning to buy a building adjoining their current offices. Majority of the funds (around 75%) for this purchase will come from NYC, and SACSS is soliciting the rest from donors.

GKF contributions to SACSS