WSCAH

What WSCAH does

WSCAH (West Side Campaign Against Hunger), legally West Side Center for Community Life, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1979 and headquartered in New York City. The organization distributes healthy food to food-insecure New Yorkers across all five boroughs, reaching 100,000+ people and 162,000 family visits per year, moving 5.4 million pounds of food with 54% being fresh produce. It also connects customers to public benefits such as SNAP and provides ancillary support for healthcare, housing, and transportation access.

The core operating platform is the Digital Choice Pantry, a mobile and web application that lets customers select food items and pickup locations by phone, building on WSCAH's 1993 first-in-U.S. customer-choice pantry model. Distribution runs through the 86th Street storefront, a 13,000 sq ft warehouse opened in 2024 at 180th Street, community hub partnerships in Washington Heights and the South Bronx, and a home-delivery program with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital serving 1,000 patient households twice monthly. WSCAH also convenes The Roundtable: Allies for Food Access, a coalition of nine of NYC's largest emergency food providers operating 1,300+ distribution sites.

Revenue is not publicly disclosed and is sourced from individual and corporate donations, foundation grants, and government contracts. There are no fees charged to beneficiaries; all food and benefits-access services are free. The organization is led by CEO Greg Silverman and holds a 4-star Charity Navigator rating and Candid Platinum Transparency 2026.

Name

WSCAH

Legal name

West Side Center for Community Life, Inc.

Website

https://wscah.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WSCAH is a NYC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that distributes 5.4 million pounds of healthy food annually to 100,000+ food-insecure residents across all five boroughs via direct sites, community hubs, home delivery, and the Digital Choice Pantry platform, while also connecting customers to SNAP and other benefits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Emergency Food Assistance and Hunger Relief Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding) (BPAGAAAD)

Keywords

• Emergency food assistance
• Food bank services
• Community food distribution
• Benefits access support
• Food insecurity services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: WSCAH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies on charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations to fund its operations. The organization offers donation options on its website.
2. Government Grants and Contracts: WSCAH receives government funding and partnerships to support food distribution and benefits access programs, including SNAP-related services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WSCAH provides free emergency food distribution and benefits access support to food-insecure New Yorkers across all five boroughs. The organization operates community-based pantries where customers choose their own food (a model it pioneered in 1993), delivers food to vulnerable patients' homes through healthcare partnerships, and assists individuals in enrolling in SNAP and other government benefits. It also convenes The Roundtable coalition of NYC's largest emergency food providers to coordinate citywide food access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Food Pantry and Distribution Services Free choice-based food distribution services at community pantries where customers select their own healthy food (a model pioneered in the US by WSCAH in 1993). Serves food-insecure individuals and families across all five NYC boroughs, distributing 5.4M pounds of food (54% fresh produce) to 162,000 family visits annually.
• Digital Choice Pantry Proprietary mobile and web-based digital ordering platform enabling food-insecure customers to choose food items and select convenient pickup locations from their phones. Integrated with the Food FARMacy partnership for home delivery selection. Designed with future AI-powered voice capabilities to improve accessibility for older adults.
• Benefits Access Services Free benefits enrollment and navigation assistance helping food-insecure New Yorkers connect to SNAP, healthcare, housing, and transportation benefits. Connected 1,550 families to essential benefits like SNAP in the past year. Includes specialized support for SNAP ABAWD individuals to complete work requirements through volunteering.
• Food FARMacy Home Delivery Home delivery service of healthy food provided twice monthly to 1,000 households of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital patients with children aged 0-5 or adults aged 65+ who are food insecure. Integrates with the Digital Choice Pantry for recipient food selection. Operates as a clinical food-as-medicine intervention addressing social determinants of health.
• The Roundtable: Allies for Food Access Coalition Convener-led coalition of NYC's nine largest emergency food providers operating 1,300+ distribution sites that collectively served 69 million meals in 2023. Provides member organizations with shared bulk purchasing power (35% savings over distributor pricing, over $500K saved), collaborative advocacy, and coordinated service delivery across NYC.

Quantifiable outcome

• 162,000 family visits per year receiving healthy food
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Food FARMacy partnership launched in 2019 providing food insecure NYP patients with regular distributions of healthy food. The program has grown to 1,000 households receiving twice-monthly home deliveries. Integrates with WSCAH's Digital Choice Pantry for variety selection.
• NY Common PantrycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• Holy Apostles Soup KitchencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• POTS - Part of the SolutioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• Project HospitalitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• St. John's Bread & LifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• Met CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• City Meals on WheelscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoundtable member organization - one of the 9 largest food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC collaborating through The Roundtable network.
• Councilmember Shaun AbreuminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity Hub partner in Washington Heights, developed in collaboration with WSCAH for customers living in Northern Manhattan.
• Phipps NeighborhoodsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity Hub partner in the Bronx, developed in collaboration with WSCAH for customers living in the South Bronx.
• Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth researchers at CUMC collaborate with WSCAH to study impacts of healthy food access, resulting in multiple studies published in major health and nutritional journals.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Food Bank for New York City: NYC's largest hunger-relief organization and Feeding America affiliate, distributing food through a network of pantries and soup kitchens across the five boroughs. Direct peer in food-bank operations, donor-driven funding, and citywide distribution.
• City Harvest: NYC's largest food-rescue organization, collecting surplus food and distributing it free to hundreds of community food programs. Comparable in mission, NYC focus, and free distribution model, with similar donor and government funding base.
• NY Common Pantry: A Roundtable member organization operating one of NYC's largest food pantries and soup kitchens. Direct peer as a frontline emergency food provider collaborating with WSCAH through The Roundtable network.
• The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH): Brooklyn-based food pantry and Roundtable member providing choice-based food distribution and benefits access. Direct peer in choice-model pantry operations and SNAP enrollment support.
• Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen: One of NYC's largest community soup kitchens and a Roundtable member organization. Direct peer in emergency food provision, serving overlapping food-insecure populations across Manhattan.
• God's Love We Deliver: NYC nonprofit that cooks and home-delivers medically tailored meals to people living with serious illness. Comparable in home-delivery food-as-medicine model intersecting with healthcare partnerships like WSCAH's NYP Food FARMacy.
• Met Council on Jewish Poverty: NYC-wide anti-poverty nonprofit operating food pantries, kosher home delivery, and benefits access — a Roundtable member organization with overlapping service offerings and beneficiary base.

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America: National network of 200+ food banks and the largest U.S. hunger-relief organization. Comparable in food-bank mission and supply-chain model, but operates at national scale and serves as an umbrella that most NYC food-bank peers are affiliated with.

Emerging players

• WhyHunger: National nonprofit supporting grassroots food justice organizations and operating the National Hunger Hotline. Comparable in advocacy, SNAP access support, and community-based food-assistance focus, though more national/advocacy oriented than direct distribution.
• Hunger Free America: National advocacy and direct-service nonprofit working to end hunger in the U.S., with strong NYC presence. Comparable in policy-advocacy activity (e.g., SNAP work requirements) and benefits access work that overlaps with WSCAH's SNAP enrollment services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wscah
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@WSCAHwatch
• Facebookfacebook.com/WSCAH
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wscah
• Instagraminstagram.com/wscah_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WSCAH