30 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 30, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Report fi nds that 1 in 12 Queens workers are going hungry
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.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
Photo courtesy of Hunger Free America
Donate gifts for veterans and children in
need at these northeast Queens locations
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Th ink of your fellow neighbor this holiday
season by donating to these community
gift and supply collection drives.
Th e offi ces of Assemblyman Edward
Braunstein, Community Board 11 and
Dr. William Duke will serve as drop-off
sites for a veteran gift and children’s toy
drive.
Supplies collected through the veterans’
gift drive will be donated to hospitalized
veterans. Suggested donations
are candy (sugar-free preferred), pajamas,
robes, slippers, socks, sweaters, shaving
cream, toothbrushes, toothpaste, playing
cards and puzzles. All must be new and in
good condition.
Th e children’s toy drive will help bring
holiday cheer to hospitalized and needy
children. Participants are asked to donate
new, unwrapped toys.
Th e addresses for the drop-off locations
are as follows:
• Assemblyman Edward Braunstein’s
offi ce, 213-33 39th Ave., Suite 238,
Bayside;
• Dr. William Duke’s offi ce, 35-01 202nd
St., Bayside; and
• Community Board 11’s offi ce, 46-21
Little Neck Pkwy., Little Neck.
Donations may be dropped off during
hours of operation. Questions should be
directed to Braunstein’s offi ce at 718-
357-3588.
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.” Th e nonprofi t 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.
Th e 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: Pexels
Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, visited Ridgewood on Nov. 22 to announce results of a study on hunger in Queens.