Verde Vida

Programs

1. Community Food Access During 2025, Verde Vida expanded access to fresh and nutritious food for families experiencing food insecurity in Northern Manhattan, Harlem, the Bronx, and surrounding communities. Through recurring client-choice food distributions, the organization distributed approximately 84,300 pounds of food, with an emphasis on fresh produce and culturally relevant ingredients. Verde Vida's client-choice model allows participants to select the foods that best meet the needs of their households rather than receiving predetermined packages. Programs were designed to reduce barriers to accessing nutritious food while maintaining dignity, choice, and respect. Distributions were conducted in partnership with community organizations, schools, food rescue partners, volunteers, and other local stakeholders, allowing Verde Vida to reach families in trusted and accessible community settings.

   $160,410 spent
   98% of program spending

2. Food Rescue and Waste Reduction Verde Vida strengthened its food rescue activities during 2025 by recovering fresh produce and other nutritious food from food businesses, suppliers, and community partners and redirecting those products to families instead of allowing usable food to go to waste. The organization coordinated transportation, volunteers, food handling, and community distribution to efficiently move recovered food from donors and suppliers into neighborhoods experiencing food insecurity. Food rescue supported Verde Vida's charitable food access programs while advancing the organization's environmental goal of reducing unnecessary food waste. Recovered products were incorporated into client-choice distributions so community members could select fresh items based on household preferences and needs. These activities allowed Verde Vida to simultaneously address hunger, food waste, and inequities in access to nutritious food.

   $100 spent
   0% of program spending

3. Education and Community Engagement During 2025, Verde Vida continued developing community-centered programming designed to address food insecurity beyond emergency food distribution. The organization engaged residents, volunteers, schools, nonprofit partners, and other community stakeholders around nutrition, healthy food access, food rescue, and the needs of families experiencing food insecurity. Verde Vida used its food distribution activities as opportunities to strengthen relationships with residents, identify community needs, connect participants with available resources, and build greater awareness of hunger and food waste. The organization also continued developing educational, culinary, and advocacy initiatives intended to complement its direct food access work and support a longer-term approach to improving community food security. Volunteer engagement remained an important component of these activities and helped increase community participation in Verde Vida's charitable mission.

   $3,453 spent
   2% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $163,963.