Community News
The Giving Spirit
Van Bramer launches 10th annual holiday food
drive at locations across western Queens
24 DECEMBER 2019 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Photo via Shutterstock
BY BILL PARRY
Western Queens residents hoping to
donate to the less fortunate this holiday
season can support Councilman Jimmy
Van Bramer’s 10th annual food drive.
All collected items will go to the women and children
who receive services at the Long Island City-based
nonprofit Hour Children.
The food drive allows members and friends of the
community to donate non-perishable food items such
as canned meats, canned soups, canned vegetables,
canned or dried fruit, infant formula, peanut butter,
dried goods, and other pasta, rice and grains.
“It’s an honor to help people in need, food is a
basic need for all of our residents and our holiday food
drive is a way to address that need,” Van Bramer said.
“I represent a community of people who are determined
to overcome obstacles. My role as a Council member
has led me to meet many families who try to shoulder
great burdens. The holiday food drive is a small, yet
an effective way of helping those families who rarely,
if ever, reach out for help.”
Participants may drop food off at any of the sev-en
locations around western Queens, including Van
Bramer’s district office located at 47-01 Queens
Blvd. Suite 205 in Sunnyside, or at any of the Queens
Public Library branches in western Queens, including
the new Hunters Point Library on Center Boulevard
in Long Island City.
“Hour Community Food Pantry serves our local
residents but also people from throughout Queens
and beyond,” Hour Children Development Director
Megan Campbell said. “We handled nearly 10,000
visits last year from people in need, an increase over
prior years. This time of year, people are incredibly
generous. But hunger of course is year-round, and
donations are what keeps us going.”
In 1986, Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, helped develop a
home in Long Island City for children whose mothers
were incarcerated. She got to know the mothers when
she brought their children to visit, and quickly realized that
the women would need additional support if they were to
successfully reunite with their children after their release.
Incorporated in 1992, Hour Children has since become a
leading provider of prison- and community-based family
services to support women and children as they reunite,
stabilize and transform their lives.
“We’re grateful for great friends who remember us
and their neighbors in need even when the holidays are
over,” Campbell said. “The mission of Hour Children is
to help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women
and children successfully rejoin the community, reunite
with their families, and build healthy, independent, and
secure lives. The organization boats multiple programs to
include women working programs, mental health support,
community outreach and pantry, and supportive housing.”
For more information regarding the holiday food
drive, contact Van Bramer’s district office at 718-
383-9566.
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
