New York City Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez partnered with GrubHub and a local Mexican restaurant to deliver 500 hot meals to families in need at the Pelham Parkway Houses on Monday.
GrubHub started its Serving the City Program – which partners local elected officials and GrubHub small businesses to address food insecurity by providing free meals to those in need – in June 2022, Brett Swanson, Grubhub’s senior manager for community affairs and social impact told the Bronx Times.
Monday’s event marked GrubHub’s second event with Velázquez.
Velázquez’s team and the GrubHub representatives were working hard to mitigate the rainy conditions while serving the meals. Velázquez wasn’t present at the event due to a different obligation, according to her team.
In an interview with the Bronx Times, 40-year Pelham Parkway House resident Frank Belmonte, 73, said he appreciated the free food. Robert Feliz, another Pelham Parkway House resident who has lived in the houses for more than a decade, said he “appreciated GrubHub being in front of [his] building” on Monday.
Justina Baker, who has lived in the Pelham Parkway Houses since 2002, said she specifically appreciates the way GrubHub’s event in Pelham Parkway helps the elderly people in the area.
The meals, which were available to Pelham Parkway residents and anyone else who happened to be passing by, were provided by a local Mexican restaurant El Rincon de Mexico, located just two blocks away from the Pelham Parkway Houses on Astor Avenue. The restaurant provided beef Birria along with chicken Birria and cabbage Birria to accommodate vegetarians and those who don’t eat red meat.
Monday’s event was also the second time El Rincon de Mexico has partnered with GrubHub as part of their Serving the City Program.
In September 2022, burglars broke into the restaurant and stole the cash register along with $2,400. The money provided by GrubHub for the first event helped cover the stolen funds and pay for a new door for the restaurant. This time around El Rincon de Mexico owner and Bronx native Jennifer Alcantar said she will use the funds from GrubHub for a new payment system.
“We’re here in the community and we’re here to serve its people,” said Alcantar.
— ET Rodriguez contributed to this report
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