FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 18, 2021 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 45
Astoria-based Tikkun BBQ makes delicious food for a cause
BY JESSICA MILITELLO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Tikkun BBQ has been bringing
the Astoria community
together by making delicious
food and collaborating with
other groups in the neighborhood
to help raise funds for local
organizations.
Th e volunteer-run pop-up barbecues
are much more than just
a chance to grab a good bite —
their primary goal is to use the
events to raise money for local
charities. Since they’ve started
a year and a half ago, they’ve
already raised over $90,000 and
they don’t plan on slowing down
anytime soon.
Eli Goldman fi rst started the
goodwill event from his balcony
in April 2020, selling baked
bread to donate the proceeds to
charities and to socialize with
others from a distance during
the height of the COVID-19
pandemic and the city’s subsequent
shutdown.
Being stuck at home inspired
Goldman to put his passion for
cooking into good use. Th e idea
gradually gained traction in the
neighborhood and became a
popular event.
“At the end of the day, if you
want to feed people it takes
money,” Goldman said. “If you
want to help people who have
experienced domestic violence,
you’ve got to pay for the bills for
the housing complex. So a lot of
what we do is donation to help
out causes of care.”
Each time guests come by and
pay for great food that is now
made by both Goldman and volunteers,
with about 50% of the
proceeds going to charities of the
group’s choosing each time.
Originally when the turnout
was localized to his balcony, he
was able to give 100% of the proceeds
to charities, but because
the barbecues have gained a
much larger turnout since it
fi rst began, the other 50% now
goes toward buying food and
supplies.
Tikkun BBQ has helped other
causes like voter registration,
but much of the focus is toward
raising money for where
it counts in order to truly
make a diff erence in the
community. Some of their
events have been hosted
at the 31st Avenue Open
Street, but others have
been hosted at other staples
in the neighborhood
like Comfortland, Diamond
Dogs and
Singlecut, to name a few.
Because the Astoria community
is so tight knit and oft en eager
to help out for a good cause, it
wasn’t too hard to get these businesses
involved.
“Sometimes it was just
shooting them a message on
Instagram, sometimes it’s word
of mouth and they contact us,
and a lot of times it was me just
walking into places, and saying,
‘Hey, you may have seen me barbecuing
in the middle of open
streets,” Goldman said.
Most recently, Tikkun BBQ
received a proclamation by state
Senator Michael Gianaris, to recognize
Goldman and his group
aft er reaching a milestone of
raising over $100,000 for charity.
Some of the causes they’ve
donated proceeds include the
Astoria Food Pantry, Astoria
Mutual Aid Network and Safe
Horizon.
Proceeds from the next events,
on Nov. 19 and Dec. 17, will go
toward City Harvest and Make-
A-Wish Foundation.
Th e group is currently raising
money for a smoker so that
they can make even larger quantities
of food that will help them
hold bigger events and, ultimately,
raise even more money for
other organizations.
“We just really want to be good
at what we do and we want to
bring people together,” Goldman
said. “When you see the line of
people and how happy everyone
is to be there, it’s all
worth it.”
To keep up with all
of their events and
fundraisers, follow
@Tikkunbbq on Instagram
or go to www.linktr.ee/
TikkunBBQ.
buzz
Photos courtesy of Tikkun BBQ
Tikkun BBQ has raised more than $100,000 for local organizations in Astoria.
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