Steve and Alex Cohen make $500,000 donation to help support families in need

On Monday, Steve and Alex Cohen made a $500,000 donation to the RIVER FUND New York as a gift in honor of their new Mets family, as well as the re-launch of the Mets Foundation with ties to the local community.

The RIVER FUND New York’s mission is “to feed and empower those we serve to move beyond the lines of poverty.” They support over 15,000 working poor families from the five boroughs prior to 2020, while that number of families in need has now skyrocketed to 33,000 by Thanksgiving 2020 as a result of the pandemic and the economic crisis.

The donation by the Cohen Foundation will help continue to feed these 33,000 families in need through the next three or four months. It will provide for the cost of warehousing, trucking, purchasing and packaging of food to help feed the area’s most vulnerable.

“Since the inception of our family’s Foundation, we’ve worked to help so many charities and causes over the years. With so many suffering due to the pandemic, our foundation has selected The RIVER FUND New York, as they are leaders in feeding families that are the most vulnerable,” said Alex Cohen, President, Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation. “One of our main missions as the Mets Ownership group is to make a substantial impact in our communities. We are grateful to be in the position to be able to make a donation that will provide food for so many, especially during these challenging times."

“With this incredible $500,000 grant from the Cohen Foundation, RIVER FUND will continue to provide families with their weekly groceries, in sufficient volume and balance, to prepare nutritious meals every week for the next several months,” added Otto Starzmann, Chief Production Officer of RIVER FUND. “This commitment from philanthropic leaders like Alex and Steve, solidifies the Cohen Foundation’s partnership with RIVER FUND in addressing the constantly increasing demand for food in our City’s poverty arena.”

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation and the Mets Foundation both have long standing relationships with The RIVER FUND New York. Since 2015, both foundations have combined to donate more than $335,000 to help the Queens organization fight poverty.