The largest mobile soup kitchen in America is scrambling to keep up with a 50% spike in demand

• New York City soup kitchens are overwhelmed with residents who have been laid off or furloughed because of the coronavirus health crisis.
• One soup kitchen run by the Coalition for the Homeless is seeing a 50% spike in demand since the virus broke out.
• The food program has become vital as more than half a million New Yorkers have lost their jobs during the lockdown.
• The homeless are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus, and 69 homeless New Yorkers have already died from COVID-19.
• View more episodes of Business Insider Today on Facebook.

In a kitchen in Harlem, volunteers prepare vats of hot soup every evening, meant to feed hundreds of homeless people across New York City.

Juan de la Cruz, who runs the Grand Central Food Program, helps the volunteers by preparing the soup and delivering it. Demand for the free meal has surged these days.

"We went probably from serving 720 meals to overnight having to get over 1,100 meals," said de la Cruz, the program director of the Grand Central Food Program.

It's not just the homeless who are lining up, but also people who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus health crisis and can no longer afford food. From March 14 through April 25, about 733,305 New Yorkers lost their jobs, making food programs even more vital.

"Money is really hard to come by," Steven, an out-of-work appliance repairman who visits the soup kitchen, told Business Insider Today. "And I'm hungry."

Over time, the soup kitchen, run by the Coalition for the Homeless, has become the largest mobile soup kitchen in the US. Volunteers have been delivering meals every day for the last three decades, rain or shine.

"One of the beauties of the program is that you see a lot of the same people from night to night, and sometimes it takes a year for somebody to crack a smile and begin a conversation with somebody," said de la Cruz.

The food program also distributes coats and blankets during the winter. Throughout the pandemic, volunteers at the soup kitchen have also been giving out masks and hand sanitizer, as well as advice on how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"Unfortunately not everyone is as convinced that this is a pandemic," de la Cruz said. "So we have quite a few that believe that this is just a hoax, that believe that this is not real. So it's reminding them, you know, why take the risk, why take the chance? Protect yourself as best as you can and you know, so it's doing a lot of that."

But others do know how deadly the virus can be. In New York City, the worst hit city in the US, at least 69 homeless people have been reported dead as of May 5, according to the NYC Department of Homeless Services.

"A friend of mine, he passed away Sunday night. He had the coronavirus," said Al Pagan, another regular at the soup kitchen. "He was a nice guy too. He was in his 80s, and his name was Bill. He also represents the homeless people on the streets."

Before the spread of COVID-19, New York City had already been dealing with record homelessness.

"Before the crisis hit, we had about 63,000 adults, individuals, both, children and families, adults and families, and single adults in the shelter system every single night, said Giselle Routhier, policy director at Coalition for the Homeless. "Plus we have thousands more people who are bedding down on the streets and in public spaces as well."

The pandemic has only made things worse for those on the streets.

"When you have health professionals and doctors as part of their recommendations for staying healthy, saying stay home and self isolate, you can't do that if you don't have a home. They're struggling to access basic necessities like food and bathrooms and showers," Routhier said.

That's why people like de la Cruz are doing what they can, even putting their own lives at risk, to make a difference during these difficult times.

"I know the need is there, so I would never not come out," he said. "I always think of giving food to somebody who's hungry as the most rewarding experience because nothing is more basic than food. So being able to do that, it's a reward in itself."