New York City chefs to lead team of 100 in TCS NYC Marathon to raise money for City Harvest

Runners from across the world are gearing up for the TCS New York City Marathon this Sunday, and one group of runners is looking to take their race further by helping a good cause. 

Team City Harvest is a team of 100 runners that will be taking part in this year’s marathon. Led by Chef Dan Churchill, of The Osprey at the 1 Hotel in Brooklyn, and Chef David Sim, of COTE, the team aims to raise money for City Harvest, New York City’s largest food rescue organization.

As a chef, Churchill recognizes how big of an impact food insecurity has on a large population of New Yorkers. By highlighting City Harvest, Churchill hopes the team can get enough money raised to help further the nonprofit’s mission to feed those who struggle to get good, nutritious food on their tables.

“The New York City Marathon is an amazing opportunity to highlight causes like City Harvest,” said Churchill. “We know sustainability has a big impact on that and then we hear that 40% of food goes to waste in this city, it’s pretty traumatic. But also as a chef, we have that responsibility in restaurants to make sure we nullify that. One in five New Yorkers don’t know where their next meal is coming from, which is pretty scary.”

For the past few years, Churchill has used his TCS New York City Marathon team to support City Harvest, with their mission inspiring his friends and the community to the point where they have to (metaphorically) fight for a spot on the team.

“I have friends who ask me every year to do the New York City Marathon and over the last couple of years, our charity has done so much. I haven’t even advertised it to friends or my social media because [the bibs] are sold out,” said Churchill. “I get 100 bibs every year, and I have to fight for more to get my friends one who didn’t register on time. I’ve already got a list of people who are committed to next year because they want to support City Harvest.”

Though Team City Harvest is happy to see New Yorkers cheering them on for the race, Churchill hopes that those who support the team will also give back to their fellow New Yorkers so they won’t have to worry about their next meal.

“We’re aiming to raise enough money to feed 1.2 million people, it’s a pretty high number. The simplest thing you can do is just go to cityharvest.org and you can just donate there,” said Churchill. “I’m very passionate, I’ve worked with City Harvest for a couple of years now and the amazing work that the team does is really changing people’s lives.”

Those who wish to support Team City Harvest can donate at cityharvest.org/marathon. For more information about the TCS New York City Marathon,  visit nyrr.org/tcsnycmarathon.