16 NOVEMBER 30, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood church serves
200 Thanksgiving meals
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@QNS.COM / @QNS
A Ridgewood church went the
extra mile to make sure that no
one would go hungry this past
Thanksgiving.
Volunteers from across the neighborhood
came together at All Saints
American Old Catholic Community to
put together an unforgettable Thanksgiving
meal for those in need.
“This is our third year putting
together a Thanksgiving meal,” said
Father Mike Lopez, the church’s pastor.
“We had a number of volunteers,
including high school students, members
of St. Mary & St. Antonio’s Coptic
Orthodox church, and others from our
parish. It really was a combined eff ort.”
This year, All Saints American Old
Catholic Community were able to
expand their eff orts with the Hungry
Monk Rescue Truck, a re-purposed ambulance
that helps the church expand
their community outreach to those who
don’t know about their services.
“With the Hungry Monk Rescue
Truck, we distributed 100 meals in
Woodside, Sunnyside and Bushwick,”
said Lopez. “We brought sandwiches,
soup, fruit, sweets and water to the
homeless while we served a hot meal
at the church.”
Thanks to 60 extra turkeys donated
by Trader Joe’s, All Saints American
Old Catholic Community was also
able to hand out additional turkeys to
families in need.
Photo: Facebook/All Saints American Old Catholic Community
All Saints American Old Catholic
Community is always looking for
volunteers to help them reach the
community.
“We continue to seek volunteers who
want to help us in our outreach and
to help families in need,” said Father
Lopez. “If you’re aware of a family
in need or a way to reach out, tell us.
We’re happy to go out.”
For more information about volunteering
with All Saints American
Old Catholic Community, visit www.
allsaintsicc.org.
One in 12 employed Queens residents can’t aff ord to eat: report
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Having a job doesn’t necessarily
mean that you’re no longer
hungry, as a new report found
that one in 12 working people in
Queens suff ers from food insecurity.
Hunger Free America came to
Ridgewood on Nov. 22 to announce
its annual report on hunger in the
“World’s Borough.” The nonprofit
advocacy group noted that the
number of hungry people in Queens
has dropped 15 percent over the last
three years, but remains 15 percent
higher than the number recorded
prior to the Great Recession nearly
a decade ago.
Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free
America, pointed to recent minimum
wage increases in New York City as a
cause for the recent decline in hunger,
but warned that looming Trump administration
cuts puts many working
class residents in danger of falling into
greater poverty.
The organization cited, as one
example, the administration’s recent
proposed $192 billion reduction in the
national Supplemental Nutritional
Assistance Program (SNAP), which
provides economic assistance to qualifi
ed individuals to purchase food and
drink.
“We still face a nation, state and local
epidemic of the ‘working hungry,'”
Berg said. “Yet, just at a time when the
nation needs even more jobs, even
higher wages and even more robust
anti-hunger safety net programs, Republicans
in Washington are scheming
to cut the safety net and eviscerate
health care — which would clearly
make hunger soar — just to fund even
more tax cuts for the mega-wealthy.”
Hunger Free America’s examination
of Queens found that 10.3 percent of
the borough’s children resided in food
insecure homes over the last three
years. One out of every 11 Queens
senior citizens also suff ers from food
insecurity.
Food pantries and soup kitchens
work diligently to feed the hungry,
but the report found that 34.6 percent
of these organizations can’t keep up
with the demand. Approximately 38.9
percent indicated that they needed to
turn people away, reduce the amount
of distributed food or limit their hours
of operation due to insuffi cient supply.
“Hunger in New York City, through
all seasons, has become an expensive
service,” said Tanesha Williams, a
volunteer at Bethel Gospel Tabernacle
in Jamaica. “How can we give if we are
limited?”
One local lawmaker, City Councilman
Barry Grodenchik, said that no
Queens family or individual “should
ever go hungry in our city.”
“Far too many New Yorkers lack
access to adequate quality food,”
Grodenchik said. “Choosing between
paying bills and purchasing nutritious
food is a constant struggle for so many
of our neighbors.”
Read the full report by visiting
Hunger Free America’s website, hungerfreeamerica.
org.
Photo courtesy of Hunger Free America
Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, visited Ridgewood on Nov. 22 to
announce results of a study on hunger in Queens.
