32 DECEMBER 14, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
HOLIDAY
Midville student looks to top last year’s coat drive
Season’s Greetings From The
WOODHAVEN BUSINESS
IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Mr. Mathew Xenakis, President
File photo/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Gabriel Gonzalez collected more than 200 coats for New York Cares last
December.
Wishing all our patrons and friends
a joyous Christmas
and
a healthy happy New Year
From Everyone At Coldwell Banker Kueber Realty
67-13 Myrtle Avenue
Glendale
718-628-0100
103-08 Metropolitan Avenue
Forest Hills
718-683-5290
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Last Christmas, Gabriel Gonzalez
of Middle Village‘s P.S./I.S. 87
gathered more than 200 coats to
give warmth to those in need — and
this year, he’s looking to do even more.
Now a fourth-grader, Gonzalez is
holding his second straight coat drive
with two drop-off locations, according
to his mom, Mati Chanax Gonzalez,
who posted information about the
drive on a local Facebook page.
Working under the banner “Team
Lifechangers,” the Gonzalezes have set
up two drop-off locations in the area:
one at P.S./I.S. 87 on 80th Street in Middle
Village, and the other at Ultimate
Champions Tae Kwon Do in Maspeth
at 72-07 Grand Ave.
“If you have any gently used coats
of yours or if your children have
outgrown their coats, please consider
donating them,” Mati Gonzalez wrote
in her Facebook post. “He collected
223 coats last year and he’d love it if he
could have an equally successful coat
drive this year.”
The coat drive is ongoing through
Dec. 26. You can drop off coats at
P.S./I.S. 87 on Monday through Friday
from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. or at Ultimate
Champions Tae Kwon Do on Monday
through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m.
Stars
shine at
Glendale
tree
lighting
The Shops at Atlas Park in
Glendale celebrated the
holidays recently with a
tree lighting. Broadway Stages,
located adjacent to the shopping
center, was among the event sponsors.
Gina Argento of Broadway
Stages is shown at the tree lighting
with Congresswoman Grace
Meng, who thanked the studio for
its support of the event.
Photo by John Ciafone
Ridgewood church seeks help to upgrade their food delivery truck
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@QNS.COM / @QNS
A Ridgewood church is asking
for the community’s help
give their food delivery
truck a major upgrade.
All Saints American Old Catholic
Community is all about helping the
community in any way they can.
This past Thanksgiving, All Saints
prepared a Thanksgiving dinner
so local families in need wouldn’t
have to go hungry.
This year, All Saints was able
to expand their Thanksgiving
outreach with the Hungry Monk
Rescue Truck, a re-purposed ambulance
that allowed volunteers to
deliver turkeys and other foods to
the homeless, the elderly and those
with limited mobility. While many
repairs had been made to the truck
since it was gifted to the church
this year, there is still a long way
to go.
“It was used from 1999. It’s an old
ambulance,” said Father Mike Lopez,
pastor of All Saints American
Old Catholic Community. “We got it
running, our bishop blessed it, and
the day after he blessed it, it broke
down and wouldn’t start again.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been
set up by Mary Houlihan to help
the church buy a decal wrap for
the Hungry Monk not only to make
themselves more visible to the
homeless, but to make themselves
more visible to potential donors,
collaborators and food suppliers.
So far the campaign has raised
$3,310 in one day. If they exceed
their $7,000 goal, the extra money
will go toward getting the Hungry
Monk a new oil panel, new tires, a
new floor in the back of the truck
and Cambro containers so they can
transport hot food with ease.
The goal for 2018 is for the
church to get a new truck so they
can serve even more people in the
community.
“Now more than ever, it’s so
important to reach out to those
in need in our communities,” said
Houlihan. “The number of homeless
New Yorkers has skyrocketed
75 percent from only 10 years ago,
and the number one cause of homelessness
among families is lack of
affordable housing.”
Donate to the GoFundMe campaign
at https://www.gofundme.
com/help-us-feed-homeless-newyorkers.
