March through April 2020, the streets of New York City fell silent and still. With the COVID-19 virus rapidly spreading across the world, the ensuing pandemic shut down the city and eventually all cities and states across the U.S., under a national STAY-at-home order. So we STAYed home, but as true New Yorkers, we bent the rules a bit. We walked, we took pictures on our iPhones. We walked more and took more pictures. The walks were daily. The walks were long. The scenes were mesmerizing. The resulting collection of images inspired a book designed to timestamp the unprecedented, yet beautiful, views of an uninhabited New York City. By no means are we experts in the field of photography or book publishing for that matter. This book is our attempt at turning a private yet public journey into a fundraising effort for one of our core missions.

For a city synonymous with never sleeping, this was a truly remarkable moment in time. It was tough when the streets were empty, but instead of it being empty we saw this as the American ideal of looking out for each other. These weren’t just empty streets, it was full of sacrifice. People STAYing home to protect each other. With the pandemic raging, food security was something that became a daily stress for many. As we are navigating our way through the health risks as a nation, hunger relief is needed now more than ever.  One in four people globally is malnourished, and in the United States alone approximately 42 million people, including 13 million children, could face hunger in 2021 due to the pandemic.  As we look to serve our communities, it is vital that we continue to support global organizations that are struggling to serve the millions of people who rely on their support.