NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New York Pass, New York City's premiere money-saving attraction pass for Manhattan and the outer boroughs, today announced it has made a $31, 657 total donation to two of New York's most well-respected and well-known charitable organizations, City Harvest and New York Cares. The money was raised from a portion of online sales throughout the months of November and December 2011. City Harvest received $14,632 and New York Cares received a donation of $17,045.

City Harvest is the world's first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city's hungry men, women, and children. The donation, collected from a portion of online sales throughout the month of November, will help City Harvest feed over 50,000 hungry New Yorkers this year.

New York Cares, a quintessential New York volunteer organization has 54,000 volunteers who are hard at work 365 days a year, teaching children the joy of reading, helping low-income students get into college, delivering job training to unemployed men and women, providing companionship to elderly nursing home residents, providing holiday gifts to families in need, serving meals to homeless and housebound people, donating coats, and more. Last year, New York Cares volunteers helped 400,000 of their neighbors in need.

"With the holiday season drawing so many visitors to our website and to purchase passes, we realized that we could not only make a significant donation to City Harvest and New York Cares, but that we could also help to educate and inspire others to share their blessings," said Ken Barrows, Vice President, New York Pass.

"The need for food is definitely higher compared to that of recent years," says Jilly Stephens, executive director of City Harvest. "Agencies that receive food from us have reported an average increase of 25% in demand across all five boroughs in the city. So a donation like this is very much appreciated, and will help us feed many hungry families through the holiday season."

"The economic downturn has hit the nonprofit community and people in need especially hard," says Gary Bagley, executive director of New York Cares. "We are seeing unprecedented demand for our programs to fill major gaps in support services for men, women and children in need citywide.  We're grateful to New York Pass for its generous donation in support of our efforts to deliver critical services to New Yorkers who need them this winter."

The $80 New York Pass ($55 for children) opens the doors to over 70 attractions -- that would normally cost over $1,000 to get into – including New additions like Dialog in the Dark, CSI: The Experience, and Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) and classic favorites including Top of the Rock; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Guggenheim; The Whitney; The Museum of Natural History; the Museum of Television and Radio; Bodies...the Exhibition, and MOMA. Behind-the-scenes tours at Radio City; NBC studios; Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. Free entry to parks and gardens, and places of interest like Madam Tussaud's; The Empire State Building Observation Deck; New York Skyride, the Statue of Liberty and the Ellis Island ferry. The New York Pass also includes shopping discounts at stores like Macy's and Bloomingdale's—it even includes discounts on New York City helicopter rides and Broadway shows! (A complete list of attractions is available here.) 

There are also two-day passes, $130 for adults, $110 for children; three-day passes, $165 for adults, $140 for children; and seven-day passes, $210 for adults and $165 for children.

Every New York Pass comes with a free 200 page guidebook that includes detailed maps, hours of operation, tips and directions to every New York Pass attraction. The guidebooks are now available in English, German, Spanish, French and Italian.  For more information visit www.newyorkpass.com.

SOURCE New York Pass