To get a handle on what Wall Street's crisis means for charitable giving in New York, consider this: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., according to Philanthropy News Digest, distributed $39 million in corporate contributions and grants in the 12 months ending November 2007.

One beneficiary of that largess was City Harvest Inc., which picks up excess food from restaurants, grocers, manufacturers and other suppliers and delivers it to soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless shelters and other places that serve those in need. (J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and the Credit Suisse Group are also big donors.) We caught up with executive director Jilly Stephens to see how City Harvest is faring after Lehman's bankruptcy.

Movers: How important are Wall Street donors to your fundraising?

Stephens: Our sense is that much of the $3 million or the amount we are projected to raise has come from Wall Street or bonuses.

What about Lehman specifically?

They were very significant. Their last grant to us was $100,000, paid out over two years. They fulfilled it around May or June of this year, and we were hoping to go in for a renewal.

What did the money go toward?

The $100,000 went to the childhood nutrition program. With the face of hunger, one might conjure up the homeless, but it's really a lot of families turning to emergency foods.

How did you react when you heard about Lehman's collapse?

That bankruptcy was a significant one, obviously. For City Harvest, it's just a critical time as we enter our peak fundraising season. That's when we raise 40% of our annual budget.

The implications are reaching well beyond Wall Street. It is really an awful combination. At at a time when we anticipate a downturn in donations, we are already seeing needs increasing, and operational stresses like rising food and fuel costs are growing too.

Does it change your fundraising goals?

The goal won't alter. We just have to go all out to bring in the $5.7 million that we are projected to raise. We are just having to be very nimble. We are talking to our major donors, and we are talking to foundations to see if there's more that they can do. We are reminding New Yorkers that it is times like this that New Yorkers usually step up.

What is your fundraising strategy now?

We believe as one door might close, we have to find other doors that will open. We will be moving ahead with our Bid Against Hunger fundraiser on Oct. 21. Last year we raised $730,000. We had originally hoped to top that by about 10%. We've had strong support from restaurants in what are obviously difficult times. Ticket sales are currently running about 15% behind last year, with most of the dropoff in the last two weeks. We're assuming that many of our supporters are, like all Americans, in a "watch and wait" mode.