Thirty self-funded boxes handed out near Times Square

Thirty boxes, self-funded, near Times Square. That was Jarif Ullah's first distribution, in June 2026, for Wellfed, the nonprofit he started to assemble care packages for the homeless population in New York City. Each package holds food, water, hygienic products and basic necessities.

He planned everything himself, he says: budgeting, packing, and picking the right location. "I brought my friends along because carrying 30 boxes by myself wasn't happening, and we split up to cover more streets," he says.

“You can do anything even with a lack of resources. The most important part is starting.”

Jarif Ullah

Jarif is a high school student at BSGE. He grew up in Jackson Heights, and says he saw firsthand how people neglect those in need and act as if they are invisible. "But these people are still people," he says. "They've had families, friends, jobs, and a personality before everything fell apart."

One moment from that June stayed with him. He handed a box to a man who looked at him and said, "Oh my god, thank you, how did you know I was hungry?"

"I didn't," Jarif says. "I wasn't picking him specifically, I just had a box and he happened to be there. But the fact that he even asked me that told me that nobody had stopped for him."

He says it stuck with him for the whole day, and made him realize he had to expand. Going forward, he says, each box had to be more purposeful, "enough to feel like someone thought about them specifically."

His next move is another distribution. The first one taught him a lot, he says: finding these individuals, preparing the boxes, figuring out what foods would maximize nutrition on a small budget. It all took more time than he expected.

"I don’t want to just hand a box and walk away," he says. "I want it to be proof that they are visible."