The League of United Latin American Citizens joined forces with Tyson Foods on Monday and donated 30,000 pounds of chicken to Food Bank for New York City, a day ahead of LULAC's National Convention & Exposition.

"We are very excited to announce this donation," Margaret Moran, national president of LULAC, the "nation's largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization" for Latinos, told reporters at a news conference at the Hilton Hotel, New York.

Moran added, "New York faces an increasing crisis of poverty and hunger as 1.4 million people in New York City lack access to quality, nutritious food. In reality, that unfortunately includes 1 in 5 children." LULAC launched the Latinos Living Healthy initiative to reach out to Latinos across the country to try and address health disparities, like food insecurity, so that when budgets are tight and families have difficulty putting food on the table, that insecurity does not have a lasting impact on children's health.

"This generous donation will add protein to thousands of struggling families, and we hope this will help New York families," Moran said.

Since 2009, LULAC has worked with Tyson Foods to donate chicken to food banks across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Tyson's website states that it is "one of the world's largest processors and marketers of chicken, beef and pork."

Joining LULAC and Tyson was Margarette Purvis, president and CEO of Food Bank for New York City, the recipient of the donation. Food Bank for New York City provides food distribution and income support and helps to provide 400,000 free meals a day.

"People are hungry in America," Purvis said at the donation announcement. "People are particularly struggling in New York City. A job is not the answer to ending hunger for many of our families, and two jobs are still not making up the difference. The timing of this gift, right now, because it is summer -- for the families we serve, two meals a day just came off the list all because of summertime, [which means] no free breakfast and no free lunch [at school]. When you struggle to afford food, the first thing to go is the protein, and who doesn't love chicken?"

Purvis added, "Nationally, 26 percent of Latino households struggle to afford enough food for their families."

LULAC's 85th national convention begins Tuesday, and for the first time, it is being held in New York City; 20,000 people are expected to attend.