City Harvest’s food pantries and soup kitchens are still serving 55% more children than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new report. 

The hunger-focused nonprofit’s pantries and kitchens served approximately 339,000 children in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit New York City, the organization said in a report released this month. 

In May 2021, that figure more than doubled, to approximately 778,000 children, the report said. By the end of last year and the beginning of this year, meanwhile, City Harvest’s outposts were still serving around 525,000 children each month — a 55% jump from pre-pandemic levels, according to the report. 

Year-round, 7,694,000 children frequented City Harvest’s kitchens and pantries in 2021, up by 96% from 2019, when the organization’s sites served 3,919,000 children, the report said.

And overall, food insecurity among children rose by 46% in New York City during the pandemic, the report noted, citing data from a Feeding America analysis. 

“Childhood hunger, in particular, was a massive problem in the city even prior to the pandemic, but COVID-19 and the ensuing economic crisis made the situation even more dire for hundreds of thousands of New York City families and their children,” the report said. 

“Families with young children — particularly BIPOC families, immigrant families and families led by single mothers — are at highest risk for slipping into food insecurity,” it added. “The COVID-19 crisis exacerbated those pre-existing trends.” 

City Harvest currently partners with more than 400 pantries and kitchens across the city, according to its website. 

The organization’s report came on the heels of an NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health study that found food insecurity was the top concern for Asian American New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic.