The Brotherhood-Sister Sol feeds hungry
families for the New Year in Harlem
BY DEAN MOSES
For the last quarter century,
The Brotherhood-Sister Sol
has been working in Harlem
to support youth through art
and after school programs. But
their role has expanded greatly
during the COVID-19 pandemic,
which has hit Black and Brown
communities the hardest.
The organization has grown
since March from a social justice
youth organization to distributing
thousands of dollars worth
of food, becoming a source on
A young volunteer helps carry a sack of onions.
which, many rely on order to survive.
They’ve worked with Grow
NYC, a fellow non-profi t working
to improve the quality of life for
residents.
Over this 10-month time
frame, volunteers have handed
out over 350,000 food supplies,
and they have no plans of slowing
down.
Dec. 30 marked the last distribution
of the year, and as bags
of onions, jars of spaghetti sauce,
crackers, and more where hauled
from a delivery truck, organizers
have come to terms with the fact
that their vital services will be
needed the foreseeable future,
even with the arrival of the Pfi zer
vaccine.
“The community needs it. At
this point we don’t see an end to
the program. The need has gotten
so much greater. Sometimes
you don’t always see it because I
think New York, more than other
places, is more intricate, so you
will have folks who are pretty
wealthy living next to folks who
are truly living in poverty. I think
sometimes in a place like this
people can be a little bit invisible,”
said Rahsan-Rahsan Lindsay, cochair
of The Brotherhood-Sister
Sol board.
These distributions have
become a scheduled, weekly
occurrence that many in the
neighborhood line up for days in
advance. It is not uncommon to
see a trail of grocery carriages left
unattended on sidewalks, which
serve as unoffi cial markers for a
person’s place in line.
Carts and bags will appear
hours and even days before a
distribution takes place, speaking
to the high demand for necessities
The Brotherhood-Sister Sol food drive feeds over 400 families weekly in Harlem.
during this unprecedented time.
Each week the organization
serves over 400 families.
“When the city shut down we
asked them what they needed.
They identified three things:
technology for remote learning,
fi nancial assistance, and food. So
that’s why we started doing this
in the third week of March to
respond to a need. Now the line
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
A row of carriages serve as
place holders, sometimes
days before the food distribution.
runs around the block, we can’t
feed everybody who needs it, but
we do our best,” John Dumey,
director of development, told
amNewYork Metro.
Members of The Brotherhood-
Sister Sol also aided youth who
needed electronic school supplies
for at home learning. While they
do cater to their young members,
volunteers emphasized that they
help everyone in need, including
those who simply gather on line
for much needed food no matter if
it is the person’s fi rst time or their
100th time visiting them.
A volunteer helps sort food items into bags.
Schneps Media January 7, 2021 3