Six-year-old, Saint Marley, was one of the many people enjoying the vegan dishes distributed by Plants On Wheels at Washington Square Park on Saturday, Dec. 23. “May favorite is the lasagna,” he said.
Photo ET Rodriguez
‘Tis the season for giving as several companies host massive giveaways around the holidays. But while some hold off until the final months to give back, a new start-up aims to give year-round.
Plants on Wheels has been feeding the hungry and homeless since July with free vegan meals while raising awareness for helping others through compassion, empathy and gratitude. Founded by vegan couple, Lawrence Katz and Cybill Validum from Staten Island, the non-profit was out celebrating their inaugural annual holiday party in Washington Square Park on Saturday, Dec. 23, offering a buffet of tasty vegan dishes, goodie bags and donated clothing to anyone in need, free of charge.
“We noticed an extreme lack of healthy food options to help nourish people living on the streets surrounding the park and in the park,” Plants On Wheels wrote in an email. “We began our nonprofit Plants On Wheels to help make vegan food more accessible to the community and bring awareness to helping others who are less fortunate.”
Plants on Wheels partners with dozens of vendors such as Lily’s Vegan Pantry, JUST Egg, Good Planet Foods and Neat Burger which allows them to continue their mission of feeding the hungry with an eye on sustainability and healthy eating.
“In my opinion, all of the health problems that people have are directly related to what they eat,” said Katz who has been vegetarian for 40 years and vegan for the last 15.
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health published, “How dietary factors influence disease risk” and found that “eating too much processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and unprocessed red meat also raised the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes-related deaths.”
The genesis of Plants on Wheels…
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