Giving back
BY TODD MAISEL
As the coronavirus spreads rapidly
through the city, the people on the
lowest rungs of economic social
society face diffi culty in getting services
and even a good healthy meal – no less get
hand-outs from generous New Yorker’s who
would give them loose change on the street.
Some of those organizations, including
the Bowery Mission, City Harvest and Met
Council for Jewish Poverty continue to do
their jobs, though many report volunteers
are running thin as many are staying home
rather than risking getting coronavirus, or
even unwittingly passing it on.
Most concerning to leaders in these
groups is that many people who require
their services to survive may have to go
without help, further endangering lives that
are already on the brink of disaster and
even some people who have the coronavirus
and need assistance.
Charities continue serving amid crisis
James Winan, executive director of the
Bowery Mission in Manhattan said it is a
very dangerous time for people who are
homeless. He said many places that the
homeless would use to congregate, use
bathroom facilities and have places to clean
up during the day are now closed. He said
some people are forced to defecate on the
streets because libraries, restaurants, and
other bathroom facilities are now closed,
making a new health risk for the public.
Despite it all, Winans said the Bowery
Mission is continuing to feed the homeless,
mostly now outdoors as of last week
to control the spread of the virus to both
volunteers and the homeless. Food distribution
was erected this afternoon where
members of the homeless community were
given meals to take with them to where
ever they sleep or live. The Mission is
distributing so-called “meal to go,” where
they had 200-300 people lined up outside
the Lower East Side facility to pick up their
meals.
Additionally, Winan said they are still
accommodating 325 homeless people in
fi ve facilities around the city.
“One of the things that is forgotten in
this situation is there are people without
homes – a forgotten group,” Winans said.
The Bowery Missions suspended some
programs including providing clothing,
showers and shut down their medical clinic
because of “constrained spaces.”
“Last week they closed restaurants,
recreation centers, libraries and now, these
people simply don’t even have a bathroom
so public hygiene is degraded and this is
Members of the Bowery Mission prepare food, including special turkey dinners during Thanksgiving from City Harvest.
They are (l-r) Volunteers Jennifer Libert, Natalie Nash, Cherie Tjhan, and Carlie Baker with Chief Development Officer
James Winans.
Food is stacked at Met Council warehouse, but it won’t last officials say.
the wrong time for that to happen,” said
Winans who explained that they have
erected a mobile hand cleaning station in
addition to the meals program.
While the Mission has thousands of
volunteers normally, “we are down to the
faithful few – courageous volunteers, but
far fewer than we’ve seen before.”
“The kitchen staff and everyone are
pitching in to help maintain this essential
service of sustaining life – they continue
to show up,” he said. “And we continue to
serve as many people on the overnights as
we did before – of course we are taking
all kinds of precautions including isolating
anyone with symptoms – the but alternative
of having people living on the streets is
unacceptable.”
In Brooklyn, David Greenfi eld, executive
director of the Met Council on Jewish
Poverty called the crisis “unprecedented”
and said 20 percent of food pantries have
already closed as a result. he said the food
crisis is becoming more acute as many people
are now unemployed, and they have had
a large increase in the number of people
requesting food.
He added that the situation is becoming
critical as food prices are rising, supplies
are low and volunteers at food pantries
are not showing up, forcing closing of 20
percent of those pantries around the city.
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
“We are receiving thousands of calls
from people to help and our food pantries
are running out of food – this is an emergency
food crisis in New York City,” Greenfi
eld said. ”We are the largest kosher food
distributor – millions of pounds a week to
the poor, and we get a call from a distributor
that 400,000 pounds will not be arriving
because of logistical challenges and
its the same thing with everything – tuna,
chicken – a sugar delivery was canceled.
Distributors are now selling for whatever
they can get – and people like Walmart and
Wholefoods are able to offer three times
what we were paying.”
City Harvest is another program that
has been adversely affected, with most of
its operations now switching to outdoor
services.
They have a total of nine mobile markets
that offi cials say will remain open and
continue to distribute free, fresh produce
to communities across the city that may
be affected by the economic impact of
COVID-19.
With reports of soup kitchens and food
pantries in the city closing due to health
concerns, and supermarkets struggling to
keep their shelves stocked during this challenging
time, City Harvest offi cials say New
Yorker’s need help putting food on their
tables. City Harvest is prepared to step up
to meet the need.
To help, the following websites tell
donors where to assist: Bowery Mission,
bowery.org/donate, City Harvest cityharvest.
org, Met Council for Jewish Poverty
metcouncil.org.
Schneps Media March 26, 2020 19
/donate
/metcouncil.org
