This case study describes a unique mapping project now being undertaken by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, an umbrella group for New York's more than 1,100 charitable soup kitchens and food pantries.

Most social service agencies exist in a culture of scarcity, unable to invest resources in anything beyond coping with immediate needs. This project, the first of its kind in the nation, demonstrates a complementary use of ArcGIS, ArcWeb Services, and the Google Maps API allowing such agencies to utilize online mapping systems in order to network, recruit volunteers, and see themselves as part of a larger movement.

Simultaneously, these maps serve as both a public disclosure of need and a gap analysis, encouraging targeted charity and volunteerism while sparking the political will to confront the size and complexity of the hunger problem.

Currently, this project is in the beginning stages - users may look up emergency feeding programs by zipcode, or see a map of the entire city. In the near future, static GIS maps highlighting specific neighborhoods and themes will be created, and layers consisting of various food access streams (farmers' markets, CSAs, community gardens) will be incorporated into the interactive mapping system.