8 MAY 14, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood fi fth-grader teams up with
local pantry to distribute food, fl owers
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Jacob Altamirano, a fifth-grader
at P.S. 290Q, partnered with
Hungry Monk, a Ridgewoodbased
food pantry and homeless
outreach truck, to help feed their
neighbors on Saturday, May 9.
“I was inspired because we were
kind of running out of food, so what
about other people? There’s homeless
people, poor people, and not
enough money, so I thought of donating
and teaming up with Hungry
Monk,” Altamirano said.
The 10-year-old also handed out
flowers to women picking up grocery
bags in front of the Covenant
Lutheran Church, located at 68-59
60th Ln., in celebration of Mother’s
Day.
Hungry Monk’s director, Father
Mike Lopez, said Saturday marked
the 60th day since they began their
COVID-19 emergency work. They
have distributed more than 250,000
pounds of food and fed more than
10,000 families in Queens — but Lopez
said they’ve seen the need triple since
the health crisis reached its peak.
“We support Jacob Altamirano
and his work in the community. We
think it’s phenomenal that he’s trying
to support, and we think other
young people should be encouraged
to do this sort of work,” Lopez said.
“It takes a community to do this.”
Hungry Monk recently started
a fundraising campaign, as the
$60,000 they had in their budget
for the whole year was gone in a
month.
To offer some help, Altamirano
and his mother, community leader
and activist Connie Altamirano,
gathered $850 worth of canned food
thanks to donations from family
and friends. Some local businesses
also donated masks, toothpaste,
mouthwash and flowers.
Elected officials were eager to
help Jacob, including Assembly
members Cathy Nolan and Mike
Miller, who donated cloth masks,
surgical masks an hand sanitizer,
as well as Acting Queens Borough
President Sharon Lee, who gave
Hungry Monk 100 grocery boxes
via Fresh Direct.
“We organized this in a week and
a half, and Hungry Monk was kind
enough to pick up all the food from
our home,” Connie said. “As Jacob’s
mother, I’m honored and proud that
even in this traumatic state of the
pandemic, and how it’s affecting
him, he’s still rising to the occasion
to help. That’s always in him, to
give back.”
Connie emphasized the importance
of helping Hungry Monk, as
the food insecurity continues to
grow amid the loss of jobs and resources
due to the coronavirus.
“We’re blessed to partner up with
Father Mike and his wonderful
team, and hope that we can continue
because there is a need,” Connie said.
“The politicians and city officials
who are supporting him should
continue to do so, and whoever isn’t
should start to, because the Hungry
Monk is helping feed our people in
Ridgewood and beyond.”
P.S. 290Q’s Principal José Luis
Jiménez and parent coordinator Jo
Ann Lawson showed their support
of Jacob, whose nickname at school
is “Heart and Soul,” at the event.
Lawson said she’s heard from a
lot of parents in their school community,
which includes residents of
Ridgewood, Maspeth, Elmhurst and
Corona, who are experiencing food
insecurity.
“There are a lot of parents and
families struggling at this time and
in need of food. A lot of them aren’t
working, so financially they’re
struggling as well,” Lawson said.
But she added their educators are
doing as much as they can.
“We have an amazing staff and
principal, who has been quite
extraordinary during this situation,”
Lawson said. “Even though it
Photos: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
happened so suddenly, our teachers
were on top of everything, making
sure students had what they needed
to continue their education, they’re
always in contact with families making
sure everyone’s okay and doing
wellness checks.”
Jacob was lauded by Senator Joseph
Addabbo, who presented him
with an award for his work in the
community.
Addabbo previously called on the
city to allocate immediate funds
for food pantries, and said that
after sending a letter to the Commissioner
of the New York State Department
of Agriculture and Markets
Richard Ball, they are finding that
food from New York state farmers
are being distributed to pantries to
prevent food waste — but, he added
“we have a long way to go.”
“One of the key words during the
coronavirus has been essential, and
what can be more essential than
food?” Addabbo told QNS. “There’s
such a need out there with people
being unemployed, even pre-virus.
But people like Jacob, they go from
ordinary to extraordinary. Nobody
tells them to do this, they want to do
it, it’s in their heart to do something
for people. So they step across that
line, they become extraordinary
people and what happens? People
benefit and families get fed.”
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