Tariq 'the corn kid' donates 50,000 cans of corn to NYC food bank

NEW YORK - Tariq "the corn kid," who rose to social media stardom over his deep love of the vegetable, has come out of "retirement" to help families in New York have a corn-tastic Thanksgiving.

The 7-year-old internet sensation teamed up with Green Giant to donate nearly 90,000 cans of vegetables — 50,000 of those are cans of corn — at City Harvest, NYC’s largest food rescue organization. Joined by the Green Giant himself, Tariq stopped by City Harvest three days before he rides on the Green Giant float for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

"What is Thanksgiving without corn?" Tariq said. "This is the one day that we get to stay home with family, watch a big parade, and then eat corn. Lots and lots of corn. It's my favorite day of the year!"

Tariq quickly became known as "the corn kid" when he appeared on an episode of the online show "Recess Therapy" and told the world why he loves corn so much.

"When I tried it with butter, everything changed," he told the host in August. "I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing."

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Nearly 10 million views later, "the corn kid" inspired a new song and partnerships with major brands like Green Giant and Chipotle. But when school started up again in the fall, he retired to focus on his studies.

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In New York, monthly visits to the City Harvest food bank are up nearly 70% since 2019. NYC food pantries and soup kitchens are seeing 14% more visitors now than they did in January of this year, according to City Harvest.