C RY D E R
P O I N T
DECEMBER 7
Cryder Point Shares Its Thanks By Giving
BY JILL DAVIS
Food pantries play a very important role in local
communities by helping those less fortunate obtain
good food that might be otherwise unaffordable. That
need is never felt more keenly than during the holidays.
In keeping with the spirit of the season, Cryder
Point held its first ever food drive last month for two
local food pantries, and it demonstrated the generosity
of our community. The drive, which was the
brainchild of Quality of Life Committee members
Joseph and Carmella Leonardi, ran for two weeks in
November, with boxes set up in each building lobby
to collect residents’ donations.
Literally hundreds of canned, boxed and packaged
foods were collected for the pantries at St.
Fidelis Church in College Point and Grace Episcopal
Church in Whitestone. By the end of the drive
on November 17, it took a full 16 cartons to hold all
the goods, which were divided equally between the
two churches.
After gathering and sorting everything in the Community
Room, the cartons were loaded into Joe and
Carmella’s car for delivery, just in time for the food
to be available for Thanksgiving (no surprise, it took
them two trips!). The St. Fidelis and Grace Church
staffs were very appreciative of the donations, and
Cryder Point will be mentioned in their upcoming
bulletins.
On behalf of the Board and the entire Cryder Point
community, I’d like to thank the QOL, especially Joe
and Carmella, for getting this worthy effort off the
ground. Eileen Annechino, Board liaison to the QOL
Committee, said, “Joe and Carmella spearheaded this
effort for QOL, and I can’t say enough. And I also
can’t say enough about the community response. It
was overwhelming.”
It sure was, and I’m sure we’re all looking forward
to this becoming an annual Cryder Point tradition.
Thank you to all who donated!
WWW.QNS.COM | DECEMBER 2017 | CRYDER POINT COURIER 7
CP staffers Robert Allen and Arnold Guzman helped Joe and Carmella load up the car. Thanks guys!
Packed and ready to go!
Just a sampling of the donations
All stocked up!
Joe helps sort things out Photos by Eileen Annechino