WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 26, 2020 7
Middle Village Kiwanis Club donates 150
turkeys to community members in need
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The Middle Village Kiwanis
Club hosted its ninth annual
Thanksgiving drive, donating
150 turkeys with canned goods to
families in need.
Prior to their distribution of the
goods, the Kiwanis Club’s former
President Al Gentile and Secretary
Bianca Charon were joined by
three Girl Scouts, Chiara Pullara,
Alexia Gulino, and Liana Pullara,
for the second year in a row to help
set up the bags of canned good and
other items such as stuffing, gravy,
mashed potatoes and vegetables on
Thursday, Nov. 19.
Gentile told QNS they were pleasantly
surprised by the amount of
donations they received this year.
“This has been a good year,
collection-wise, because I do think
people that are not struggling as
much were being more generous
this time of the year,” said Gentile.
“This is the time of the year when
we get the most bang for our buck.
We want to do the most we can for
the community during this time. I
thought it would’ve been less with
COVID and everything else, but
people really stepped up.”
But COVID-19 changed the way
they distribute the food.
Due to social distancing guidelines,
they have partnered with
local churches to minimize contact,
instead of delivering the
food to the homes of those in need
themselves.
On Monday, Nov. 23, they arranged
for their partners to pick
up the donated food at the Cross
County Savings Bank at 79-21 Metropolitan
Ave., for families in need
in the surrounding neighborhoods,
including Middle Village, Maspeth,
Glendale and Ridgewood.
Gentile thanked the Cross County
Savings Bank and Maspeth Federal
Savings Bank, as well as all the
Kiwanis Club’s members for their
generous donations.
He said they’ve helped about
3,000 families celebrate Thanksgiving
in the years that the Kiwanis
Club, an international service
organization with local roots, has
hosted the event.
“Every year it’s been unbelievable,”
said Gentile. “The fact that
people will be able to sit down — in
a small group, obviously — with
their families and enjoy the food,
I think is great.” Photo by Dean Moses
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