The Elizabeth Elting Foundation Provides 120,000 Holiday Meals As Food Costs Surge 26% in Just One Year

The Foundation's $300,000 Donation to The Campaign Against Hunger Will Feed Thousands of New Yorkers This Holiday Season

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Elizabeth Elting Foundation is furthering its longstanding partnership with The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) to combat food insecurity among New Yorkers during the holidays. The Foundation's $300,000 contribution will provide 120,000 meals for families in need this season, continuing this annual tradition for the fifth year in a row.

According to research conducted by Robinhood and Columbia University, the average weekly gap between income and food costs for families with children has increased by more than $30 in recent years, climbing from $171 per week to $205 per week. What's more, per data from the USDA's Economic Research Service, food prices are rising faster than overall inflation, with the Consumer Price Index for all food increasing 0.4% from July 2025 to August 2025 alone, and food prices in August 2025 sitting 3.2% higher than in August 2024.

Most troubling, Robinhood and Columbia's findings reveal that among New Yorkers struggling to afford food, 89% were families with children and at least one working adult in the household. The cost of 100,000 meals for this initiative has surged more than 26% in just the past year alone, climbing from $198,000 in 2024 to $250,000 in 2025. In response to soaring food costs and the growing need among families, the Elizabeth Elting Foundation expanded its donation to 120,000 meals this year, helping more New Yorkers gather around the table this holiday season.

"When so many families can't afford to put food on the table despite their best efforts, we're facing a systemic crisis that demands urgent action," said Liz Elting, Founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation. "Access to nutritious food isn't a luxury; it's a fundamental necessity. I'm honored to stand alongside The Campaign Against Hunger in the fight for food justice, and I remain committed to ensuring that every New Yorker has the resources they need not just to survive, but to thrive."

"When the cost of feeding a family rises by more than 26% in a single year, hunger becomes an urgent crisis, even for working households," said Dr. Melony Samuels, Founder and CEO of The Campaign Against Hunger. "The Elizabeth Elting Foundation's investment is both timely and transformative, allowing us to scale our response and ensure families can put healthy food on the table without having to choose between survival and stability."

The Foundation's gift to TCAH supports the organization's collective community-driven approach to ending hunger in New York. In 2026, the Foundation will further its dedication to initiatives that eliminate systemic barriers, promote public health and education, empower those who are underserved, and create a better future for all.

For more information about the Elizabeth Elting Foundation and its ongoing work to break down barriers, bridge gaps, and create systemic change so that all people can succeed, thrive, and reach their potential, please visit www.elizabetheltingfoundation.org. To learn more about The Campaign Against Hunger, its work to end hunger, and how you too can give the gift of hope and meals this holiday season, please visit www.tcahnyc.org.

About the Elizabeth Elting Foundation
The critical work of the future is breaking down the barriers that hold back women and marginalized people and advancing true equality for all. With an eye toward that future, the Elizabeth Elting Foundation is committed to promoting progressive and feminist efforts to eradicate systemic barriers, promote public health and education, achieve workplace equality, rise beyond the glass ceiling, and open the doors to economic independence for those society has far too often shut out.

About Liz Elting
Liz Elting, Founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation, is an entrepreneur, business leader, bestselling author, linguaphile, philanthropist, feminist, and mother. After living, studying, and working in five countries across the globe, Liz founded TransPerfect out of an NYU dorm room in 1992 and served as Co-CEO until 2018. TransPerfect is the world's largest language solutions company, with over $1.2 billion in revenue and offices in more than 140 cities worldwide. Liz's recognitions include the Trinity College Alumni Medal for Excellence, the Charles Waldo Haskins Award for business and public service from NYU's Stern School of Business, the American Heart Association's Health Equity Leadership Award and Woman Changing the World Award, and The Campaign Against Hunger's Planter Award. Liz has been recognized as a NOW Woman of Power & Influence, American Express and Entrepreneur magazine's Woman of the Year, and one of Forbes' Richest Self-Made Women every year since the list's inception. Elting is the bestselling author of Dream Big and Win: Translating Passion into Purpose and Creating a Billion-Dollar Business.

Press Contact: 
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SOURCE Elizabeth Elting Foundation