Fresh Meadows church invites community to food pantry event
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021 5
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The Christ Lutheran
Church in Fresh Meadows
is inviting the community to
collect bags of groceries at its
first food pantry event to serve
families in need during the
pandemic.
On June 5, residents are
welcomed to stop by the
church, located at 188-12 73rd
Ave., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., to
pick up bags of food containing
grits, rice, chicken, salmon,
mixed vegetables and non-perishable
items.
For their first event, the
church will be taking a survey
of fresh food items residents
would want to eat, rather than
giving them something that
they are not likely to eat, said
Candace Singh, president of
the Christ Lutheran Church
Board.
“It’s really important and
valuable that we are serving
this function,” said Candace
Singh, president of the Christ
Lutheran Church Board.
“We’ve had to visit other
church food pantries, and on a
slow day, 150 people may show
up, but you can’t deny the impact
of 150 people supplying
them with much-needed food.”
The Christ Lutheran
Church’s congregation is made
up of people from many diverse
backgrounds, such as Guyanese,
Trinidadian, Jamaican,
Chinese, Korean, Filipino and
Caucasian, according to Singh,
who has been a longtime
member of the church.
Originally, the parish drew
its membership from German
and Scandinavian roots and
later attracted people from
many different ethnic backgrounds,
reflecting the diversity
of Queens itself. Today, its
parishioners hail from a multitude
of countries on five continents,
and from all over the
U.S., according to its website.
When the coronavirus hit
New York City last spring
and churches — among other
institutions — were closed to
help limit the spread of the virus,
it was difficult to keep the
church afloat, Singh said.
“Pre-pandemic, our investment
adviser went bust — all of
the money we had invested had
disappeared and we were a few
months away from the funds
running out, and then COVID
hit. We had to shut down the
church for several months,”
Singh said. “Fortunately, we
were able to apply for loans to
get some relief, and we also
sold the parsonage, the house
that the pastor lived in.”
While the average age of
their congregants are 60 years
old and up, many were uncomfortable
with using Zoom or
felt intimidated by technology,
Singh said.
“They just preferred to
have an in-person experience,”
Singh said.
While government regulations
were lifted after a few
months, according to Singh,
the church held small indoor
gatherings, following social
distancing guidelines. Now,
as more people are being vaccinated
and the government is
lifting restrictions on the use of
face coverings outdoors, Singh
said they are looking forward
to one day having an indoor
service without masks, as the
COVID numbers remain low.
As people have been struggling
with food insecurity due
to unemployment during the
pandemic, Singh said it was
important to host the food pantry
sooner rather than later. In
the past, the church would donate
canned goods to other organizations,
but this is the first
event where they are interacting
with residents and hope to
make it a monthly event.
Since the church couldn’t
afford a full-time pastor, for
the past six months, they had
to improvise with a temporary
pastor who had a relationship
with other churches that donated
several hundred pounds
of food for their event.
“Once we establish that
there is a demand for the pantry,
we will be able to apply
through government programs
to supply us with the funds for
food for future events on a regular
basis,” Singh said.
According to Singh, it’s not
just about keeping people alive
and fed, but also seeing people
from diverse cultures involved
in serving a diverse community,
while indirectly helping to
heal the current racial divide.
Christ Lutheran Church in Fresh Meadows
Courtesy of Candace Singh
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