Business

2013 Vendy Awards to honor food trucks that supported Sandy victims

August 8, 2013 Heather Chin

NYC food trucks line up at a hurricane relief station in Staten Island. The NYC Food Truck Association and 54 vendors will be honored with the Most Heroic Vendor Award at this year's Vendy Awards. (Photo courtesy of NYCFTA)

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In a nod to the hard work and contributions of New York City’s food truckers during the months of clean-ups, rebuilding efforts, and other relief efforts throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, and New Jersey, the 2013 Vendy Awards will be honoring 54 food trucks with the Most Heroic Vendor award.

The New York City Food Truck Association (NYCFTA) will also be noted as heroic for their work in coordinating all the food truck deliveries and outreach efforts within days of Hurricane Sandy hitting New York City. The group raised over $50,000 through crowd-sourcing to help fuel the trucks with hot food and beverages to those who needed it most.

“We are proud to honor over 50 courageous vendors as this year’s Most Heroic Vendor at the Vendy Awards,” said Sean Basinski, director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center. “Their brave and generous work with the New York City Food Truck Association providing food and water to victims of Hurricane Sandy is a testament to the contributions and selflessness showcased by street vendors everyday. Vendors truly are the heart and soul of New York’s communities.”

Honoree David Weber, president of NYCFTA, also emphasized the important role that food trucks and their managers play and are naturally suited to in spur-of-the-moment situations.

“Food trucks entrepreneurs are experts in providing hot and tasty food on the go,” Weber said. “Being mobile and self-sufficient, food trucks had the capacity to immediately reach and serve the communities that were hardest hit by Sandy.”

However, a food trucker is only as powerful as their support and customers, too, Weber noted.

“In addition to honoring the businesses and individuals who spent their days on the ground serving their fellow New Yorkers, this award is really a tribute to the many sponsors—including the Mayors Fund to Advance NYC, Jetblue, and the thousands of individuals across the country and throughout the world—who donated the funds that allowed the trucks to continue serving free, hot meals for more than four weeks after Sandy,” he said.

The 9th Annual Vendy Awards will be held on Saturday, September 7, at Bush Terminal (882 Third Avenue) in Sunset Park’s waterfront industrial space, Industry City.

This is the first time that the annual event, which pits dozens of NYC street vendors against one another in competition for the coveted Vendy Cup, will be held in Brooklyn.

Get your tickets now!