By JAMIE DELIZ & MARLENE GOMEZ
Kids across New York City flocked to the classrooms of the largest school system in the nation Thursday morning to ring in a new school year.
“As we begin a new school year, we have much to celebrate,” said Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, Carmen Fariña.
Some 1.1 million students across the city’s 1,800 public schools will witness the rollout of new programs, like 3-K in parts of Brooklyn in the Bronx and free lunch for all students.
Under sunny skies and mild weather the new school year went smoothly though in one incident an unloaded hand gun was confiscated from a 17-year-old student of City Polytechnic High School in Downtown Brooklyn.
Offering free lunch to every student regardless of need stems from the desire to end the practice of “school lunch-shaming,” where those who qualified because of low family income were sometimes ridiculed by classmates.
“Free school lunch will not only ensure that every kid in New York City has the fuel they need to succeed,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “but also further our goal of providing an excellent and equitable education for all students.”
Last year, roughly 75 percent of students were eligible to receive free school lunch. This year, more than 200,000 students, including charter and non-public school participants, will benefit from the initiative.
De Blasio visited schools throughout the five boroughs Thursday, starting with P.S. 277 in the Bronx, where he welcomed students, teachers, and staff members.
In Harlem’s P.S. 46, de Blasio read “How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?” to a second-grade class.
“It’s a welcome change,” said UFT representative Zina Burton- Myrick, and a supporter of free school lunch. “I’m glad he picked a Harlem school. It’s nice for the children in the neighborhood to actually interact with the mayor. It’s a nice way to come back to the beginning of the school year.”
The mayor engaged in photo-ops with some of the neighborhood residents before heading off to the next school.
“We felt honored,” Assistant Principal Sharon Goodman said. “His presence is powerful. It sends a message as a community—we’re all in this together.”
By HERMIA JEAN-LOUIS
“That’s my son!” said Marva DeBeauchamp, pointing proudly at the newly-minted multi-millionaire standing near the podium of the Resort World Casino in Queens.
Eric Beauchamp, one of three Mega Million Lotto winners announced on Thursday, grinned broadly. “My mom is good now,” he said. “She has nothing to worry about.”
As it happened, striking it rich turned out to be a mother-and-son venture.
DeBeauchamp, 34, a general contractor from Suffolk County, bought his lottery ticket while out to lunch with his mother. The young contractor got off early from work to get lunch with his mother at a deli that happened to also sell lottery tickets. DeBeauchamp originally gave his mother money with which she purchased a $10 scratch-off ticket, that then turned into a win of $20 that he used to buy the $5 Million Fortune winning scratch-off.
DeBeauchamp also said that he chose that specific ticket because it was lucky number 13 and his favorite color, “money green.” DeBeauchamp chose to have his millions given to him in one lump sum payment of $3,309,000 in cash, and he describes the feeling to be amazing. With his winnings, DeBeauchamp plans to keep his promise to take care of his mother, buy a house for him and his wife, and also start his contracting business. And finally, get himself a nice cold Corona.
Yangi Sherpa, however won the top prize of $7 million,
With just $2, Sherpa’s father bought her a Cash 4 Life ticket worth $7 million. It wasn’t until the next day, Sherpa checked her winning numbers and could not believe it. She describes the feeling to be, “unbelievable!” Sherpa had no knowledge of the cash prize amount. She, too, opted to receive her $7 million prize as a onetime lump sum payment of $4,361,280. Her advice to other lottery players, “Hey, you never know. Just play!” Sherpa plans to buy her parents a house and even get herself a designer purse that she’s always wanted.
The Lotto’s $4.7 million winner, Juan Mendez, describes his experience as an abnormal part of his daily routine. He usually walks around the neighborhood with his family every Friday, to their local store to play their regular lottery tickets. However, this particular Friday, Mendez sent his wife to play the Lotto’s winning numbers. When he realized he won $4.7 million, he, too, could not believe it.
After acquired withholdings and opting for a one time lump sum payment, Mendez received $2,018,143. Mendez plans to buy a house, pay some bills, and invest the rest of the money. Maybe even buy himself a brand new watch.
Photo by Hermia Jean-Louis
|
By JOSEPH MODICA As the notorious “summer of hell” drew to a close, Amtrak executives announced on Thursday that regular service at beleaguered Penn Station would resume on Sept 5th. Flanked by workers in white hard hats and bright orange safety vests, Scot Naparstek, Vice President of Operations at Amtrak, promised riders that work on the transportation hub would be completed on time and that the new repairs will allow a “more reliable train operation.” The announcement marked the end of an eight-week period of infrastructure repairs that caused train delays and longer wait times, nicknamed “summer of hell” by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The repairs required 1,296 of man hours and required 360 skilled employees, who laid “six football fields worth of track,” poured 176 yards of concrete, placed 897 track ties and installed 1,000 tons of ballast, said chief engineer Gery Williams. He called the work “tough” since work continued while the trains ran, but added that “our work is never done.” More repairs and improvements will continue into fall next year, with several upgrades like public restrooms and waiting room expansions slated for the end of the year. To prevent a repeat of earlier this year where several trains derailed, Naparstek said that “we will continue to be aggressive in inspections” and promised to have funding “into the foreseeable future” to prevent future service stoppages. After Tuesday, Amtrak will focus their attention to other projects, including repairing Hudson Tunnel and the Gateway Project, a program to expand Amtrak operations to accommodate more passengers and trains by building four new lines between Newark, NJ and Penn Station. |
By BRIAN MORENO
New York state and local officials on Thursday announced plans to reopen the stretch of Park Row between Frankfort and Worth streets that was closed for more than 16 years to pedestrians and bicyclists as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
New Yorkers and tourists will now have new options to get from Chinatown to Lower Manhattan, the South Street Seaport and the Financial District,officials said. Park Row will also allow pedestrians a new access route by stairway to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Also planned was a protected two–way bike lane that is over half a mile long, including maintenance of access for the bus route of the M9 and the M103.
City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said that 10,000 square feet of pedestrian space will be added to the area. “New Way” signs and new bright LED lighting will be installed so new-comers and the locals will have easier time to locate their way around.
“This is a solution that will have very tangible benefits for the community. It will assist local businesses,” said Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez. “It will ease local traffic congestion and make it easier to get around this part of town. It will be done in a way that is not an eyesore in our community.”
After the terrorist attacks, the area was completely cut off from the public and later open to public transportation. After years of government bureaucracy and precautions for terrorist attacks, this project took form.
With the progress of this project, businesses, such as restaurants, will be allow to thrive since locals and tourist will be given greater access to the Lower Manhattan and Chinatown.
According to Trottenberg, the project would commence this fall and was expected conclude next spring.
By PAULETTE GINDI
New York City Councilman Carlos Menchaca vowed on Thursday to create a “one seat ride” from Red Hook to lower Manhattan, by improving bus and ferry service and with an eye to climate change.
During a press conference, Menchaca proposed to add a B61 bus stop at Red Hook’s NYC Ferry stop, as well as creating a new stop on the 9 express buses that drive through the heart of Red Hook to the Hugh Carey Tunnel, making transportation to Manhattan more accessible.
“We need multiple ways for residents to go in and out of our communities,” Menchaca said. “The dangers of climate change are real and our community continues to be impacted. That is why we have to do everything that we are doing on transportation. Any capital improvement that we do must be to the lens of resiliency.”
“Red Hook has been a transit desert for too long,” said Eric McClure, a representative of Street Pac, a political action committee dedicated to cultivating the safety and accessibility of New York City’s streets.
“It’s time to put Red Hook on the transit map,” Menchaca said. “So our residents have better access to jobs, education, healthcare amenities and all our city has to offer.”
Photo of Councilman Menchaca by Paulette Gindi
By RADHIKA VISWANATHAN
Brignel Camilien works at the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health, designing projects that help communities increase awareness of health issues. But his path leading to public health research has been unconventional. Before joining the Institute, he had been a barber at the Skills R Us Barbershop in Brentwood, Long Island. In fact, he was asked to work with the institute for that very reason.
“The role of a barber is more than providing grooming services. Barbers are seen as therapists, father figures, brother figures, role models, counselors, a friend and overall trusted figures in the black community,” Camilien said. “They often have all the connections because of their interactions with clients from various walks of life.”
Camilien is part of a community outreach effort that the Arthur Ashe Institute runs from the SUNY Downstate Medical Center campus in Brooklyn. On his desk, one might find a thin spiral book with the words “Barber’s Workbook” emblazoned on the cover. These workbooks are some of the remnants of the Barbershop Talks with Brothers program, which ended its data collection phase earlier this year.
“When a black man sits down in that chair, he’ll say things he wouldn’t say to other people in his community,” said Dr. Michael Joseph, one of the scientists who organized Barbershop Talk with Brothers. The program, which ran from 2012 to this year, was a joint effort by the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health and SUNY Downstate Medical Center to bring HIV awareness to communities of heterosexual black men in New York City.
“Black heterosexual men are considered the ‘forgotten population’ when it comes to HIV research. There’s really nothing out there for them in terms of HIV awareness,” Joseph said. “But we know that black men go to barbershops all the time.”
Hinging on the fact that black heterosexual men are more likely to have a regular barber appointment than to have a regular doctor’s appointment, the researchers developed an intervention based out of barbershops. They began with a steering committee composed of a doctor, barbers, a religious leader, and other community members—a diverse group of people who contributed to the development of the study. Barbers from all over the city were given training sessions at SUNY Downstate’s facilities. This training turned the barbers into health advocates who would be comfortable approaching their clients with advice about sexual health. The barbers then referred their clients to the researchers to attend further classes on HIV/AIDS.
“We teach barbers how to have ‘crucial conversations,’” said Joseph. “And then, when their clients bring up something about health, BAM! [The barbers] tell them about our project.”
Through their connection with the barbers, the researchers were able to recruit over 1,000 participants to attend their classes. In order to measure improvement, the participants were given a baseline exam on sexual health, attended the class, and were given a second exam six months later. Although the results have not yet been analyzed, pilot studies showed that participants felt far more confident in taking their health into their own hands. They began using condoms more and felt more empowered as a community.
This structure of this study—beginning with a steering group composed of local residents and ending with participants taking their knowledge back to others in the community—is quite unique within the field of public health. It’s an example of Community-Based Participatory Research, or CBPR, a method of research that keeps communities involved in every step of the research process. Similar methods of research are prevalent in developing countries, but Community-Based Participatory Research has recently grown more popular in the United States; the Arthur Ashe Institute conducts several such studies, but it’s only one of many similar projects in New York City.
“Research has always been this top-down approach, where people come and ask questions,” said Dr. Carrington Reid, a geriatrician at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. “The people who participate as subjects most of the time don’t get information about the outcome.”
With his expertise in geriatric medicine, Reid focuses his research largely on pain management and palliative care. One example of his work is the Arthritis Self-Help Program, which ended in 2008 and sought to enable senior citizens to manage their own pain. Just as the Barbershop Talk with Brothers project did, Reid began with a steering committee consisting of senior center directors and elderly community members as well as pain management experts and doctors. And rather than going through barbershops, the interventions were carried out through senior centers.
“It’s really senior centers that are vibrant hubs for many groups of older adults over the city,” Reid said. “There are health elements—people come for exercise and classes—but they are really there for the socialization.”
Approximately 250 senior centers were equipped with programs from the Arthritis Foundation, and the participants were given tests before and after taking part in the programs to determine their pain management. Not surprisingly, the program created by senior citizens for senior citizens proved to increase their pain relief while also giving them a sense of empowerment.
Reid has just finished another study looking at educating elderly patients about palliative care, a holistic method of providing physical, emotional, and even spiritual care for people with advanced stages of illness. Via elder service providers such as senior centers, the researchers taught participants about palliative care. One of the most crucial aspects of the project was dispelling the idea that palliative care is simply end-of-life-care—a misconception that often scares people away from taking advantage of it. Rather, they explained that palliative care is specialized type of care that focuses on relieving pain and improving quality of life
“There’s a history of research that is done in community settings where the researcher comes in and collects information and then that’s it. You never hear anything more, because the knowledge is now getting published in some scientific journal,” Reid said. “But one of the values of CBPR is that you have local groups that are part of the process who will vouch for you and say, ‘That guy’s ok, it’s ok to come in and do this,’ as opposed to just using them.”
Reid’s office is on the 14th floor of the medical center’s campus in Lenox Hill. His office is cluttered with papers and textbooks, but he seems to know where everything is located; reaching behind a cardboard box stacked high with even more papers, he pulls out a textbook written by Dr. Barbara Israel from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Israel is one of the most prominent researchers of the community-based research method, and has outlined a set of nine tenets that should be at the base of every CBPR study. These principles were described in a 2005 paper in Environmental Health Perspectives and emphasize the importance of keeping community members at an equal level to researchers.
“There’s this idea of the researcher as an interloper, only coming to get what they want,” Reid said, “and working in these communities, we heard this time and time again: ‘Researchers would come in, collect information, and we’d never hear from them again, so we don’t even know what happened.’ So that process of remaining engaged and developing a partnership is critical to the process.
Although this method of conducting public health research sounds intuitive, there are several reasons it has not become as popular as it should be.
The National Institutes of Health is a government agency responsible for biomedical research and research funding, and it has funded the work of both the Arthur Ashe Institute and Reid. According to the agency’s public database, out of the 71,703 projects it funded over the past year, just 472—fewer than 1 percent—were projects of Community-Based Participatory Research. This ratio is reflected in the dollar amount granted to such projects: $287 million out of a $39 billion budget (that’s about 0.7 percent).
Part of the reason for this may be that the method is relatively “low-tech,” according to Reid, and does not require much money. But that’s not the only explanation. “Money correlates to importance and preference and it does say something about where resources are getting devoted,” Reid said. “Health institutions feel like they have hegemony over healthcare, and the prevailing biomedical model is that patients are passive and have very little input.”
Community-Based Participatory Research seeks to rewrite the answer to the question: Where does healthcare happen?
“Is [healthcare] only in the context of having a conversation with your doctor in the doctors office? Or is there an opportunity to think about the barbershop or the church or the synagogue, as a place where health education and health wellness can take place?” Reid said. “Yes, we have specialized knowledge of this field, but we’re not the only purveyors of health.”
One way to change the current biomedical mindset is to emphasize the importance of patient involvement early in people’s medical careers. “What’s needed in medical school is cultural competency,” said Dr. Marilyn Fraser-White, the deputy executive director of the Arthur Ashe Institute and an assistant professor at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Because the Institute is housed on the SUNY Downstate campus, medical students are given a rare opportunity to get involved with CBPR research.
“We’ve done work around cultural competency; students can understand the cultural issues that are behind healthcare,” Fraser-White said. “Understand disparities, understand biases, thinking about health equity, that everyone might not be receiving the best treatment for them, that healthcare is a right as opposed to a benefit.”
Forming these relationships with patients is at the heart of CBPR, and students who are ingrained with CBPR values are likely to become more compassionate, effective physicians.
“Although the project is over, we still get phone calls about the classes. We still visit the barbershops to distribute condoms,” said Camilien, one of the people involved with the Barbershop Talks with Brothers project.
Camilien had been a barber interested in medicine when he was recruited to the project during its early stages. Now, he’s developing a new Community-Based Participatory Research project with the Arthur Ashe Institute. “Most people don’t look into the reasons why preventions don’t work; reasons like lack of health insurance, past experiences with doctors or researchers. But when we go to the community, we meet people where they are,” he said.
The results of such community-based studies speak for themselves. Employing community experts such as Camilien allows public health researchers to fix misconceptions and do work that truly benefits the people who participate. “Generally, people think ‘People in these communities aren’t interested in healthcare and preventative medicine,’” Camilien said. “But that’s not true; it’s a matter of making it accessible.”
Photo, top: Nelson Urraca, the owner of Nelson’s Barbershop on Parkside Avenue in Brooklyn and a barber with Barbershop Talk with Brothers, with a client. Below: Hermione Fraser, owner and stylist at Hermie’s Beauty Salon on Church Avenue, is assisting Barbershop Talk with Brothers. (Photos courtesy of Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health.)
By JON REMACHE
New York lawmakers joined anti-Trump protestors on Thursday, vowing to introduce a bill to cut pension funds of companies that support President Trump’s stance on immigration.
The “Corporate Backers of Hate” campaign took place outside of JP Morgan Chase headquarters in Midtown and was led by dozens of demonstrators including members of the Churches United For Fair Housing and members of the Make the Road New York organization.
The campaign began at the start of the month after supporters criticized the profits nine companies earn by supporting the Trump administration’s immigration and worker’s rights policy.
“We’re going to be watching you,” said State Senator Gustavo Rivera. “The actions of this administration and the attacks on vulnerable populations are going to be resisted by the people here and the by the people all across this country that have already been resistant. But, If you profit from these actions we are going to be watching you and the repercussions are going to be real.”
Signs in Spanish said, “No more Deportations” and ‘wanted” signs featured a photo of JP Morgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimon’s face. Chase was accused by Make the Road New York executive director Javier Valdes of investing in immigration detention centers and private prisons.
“I am extremely embarrassed of what’s going on in our federal government,” added assemblywoman, Nily Rozac. “There’s only one way we can get answers to our questions and that is through our resistance and through our actions.”
A JP Morgan Chase representative declined to comment.
By STEVEN FERRARO
The wife and mother of a Queens mob group was sentenced to a seven year jail term on Thursday for smuggling cocaine to her family-owned pizzeria.
Eleonora Gigliotti appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court in front of Judge Raymond Dearie to be handed her sentence. Gigliotti pleaded guilty in January to smuggling 120 kilos of the narcotic. She, along with her husband, Gregorio, son, Angelo, and relative, Franco Fazio conducted crimes that would build an international drug operation between the U.S., Italy and Costa Rica.
From July 2014 to March 2015, Gigliotti was accused of making several trips trips to Costa Rica, where she would bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to an unknown supplier. Dearie noted early in the procedure that this particular sentencing was a difficult one – one that made him consult with multiple colleagues.
This was because of several factors, including her “mental problems” and status as a mostly upstanding, hard-working citizen, attested to by slew of letters sent to Judge Dearie by her family. These two points were exhaustingly argued by Gigliotti’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaizer.
Kaizer made sure the court knew how proud Gigliotti was of her restaurant in Corona, Cucino a Modo Mio. This place of pride was also the source of her drug operation – a point that Assistant U.S Attorney Keith Edelman used as a counter argument. Law enforcement found an arsenal of guns, ammunition, brass knuckles and over $100,000 in cash in the store.
This didn’t stop Kaizer from trying to get the judge to lower his sentence at the last minute. The defense attorney asked for 60 months in prison, because Gigliotti’s experience over the past two years has been hard. He added that his defendant wouldn’t even be in court if it weren’t for her toxic marriage.
Her husband Gregorio Gigliotti, he said, is “combative, volatile,” and has a “dynamic, explosive nature”.
Edelman rejected this by again stressing her “crucial role” in the drug operation. Although Dearie did not agree with the entire argument, he did note that Gigliotti might be in a different situation if she had not married Gregorio. Dearie continually expressed his sympathy for Gigliotti.
She was allowed to say a few words just before her sentence was passed. She expressed regret for her crimes. “I want to be a good mother and grandmother when I get out,” she said before mumbling the rest of her apology. She waved and blew kisses to the small group of family sitting in the court as she was being taken out.
A shattered family is an expression that describes the Gigliotti’s all too well. Matriarch Gregorio was sentenced to 18 years in prison last month. Angelo Gigliotti is still waiting for his sentence. He is expecting a minimum of 20 years behind bars. Fazio is being tried in his home country of Italy. His extradition is expected later.
By DEREK NORMAN, LOGAN WILBER & RAYCHELLE BALENTIEN
Thursday evening marked President Trump’s first visit to his home town since his inauguration, which resulted in the disruption of traffic, a heavy police presence and scattered protests across midtown Manhattan.
All for practically naught.
President Trump, scheduled at first to arrive at 3 p.m. and to meet the Australian Prime Minister at his hotel, drop by Trump Tower to pick up his wife Melania and join Malcom Turnbull and World War II vets aboard the aircraft carrier-turned museum the Intrepid, was delayed several hours after passage of his long awaited “repeal and replace” healthcare bill through the House of Representatives. . While the president celebrated at the White House Rose Garden, Turnbull cooled his heels in black tie awaiting Trump’s arrival, along with thousands of police officers and protestors on Manhattan’s west side.
The protests, organized by the Working Families Party, kicked off around midday along the heavily barricaded Twelfth Avenue sidewalks stretching from Dewitt Clinton Park down to the Intrepid, which is docked at Pier 86 on 46 Street. Among those attending was New York Public Advocate Letitia James, Paola Mendoza, director of the Women’s March, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
“Together we shoulder the responsibility of defending our democracy,” James told the protestors. “We are indivisible and we are inextricably tied together by the fabric of humanity. We are one and quite simply, we are the resistance. It is time that we rise, raise our hands, our fists, our voices and more importantly, it’s time that we defeat this administration.”
Trump, having cut cut short the original schedule, arrived at JFK airport as the sun was westering, choppered to the Wall Street heliport and motorcaded up the West Side Highway to the Intrepid, all of which slowed traffic on the west side, along with the waterways. Police boats intercepted a couple of Greenpeace vessels protesting on the Hudson.
Following his gala, Trump took a helicopter to his Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey where he was expected to spend the weekend.
The dinner commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, where the two countries fought alongside each other against Japan during WWII. Eight veterans who fought in the naval battle, now in their 90’s, attended, five of whom traveled 28 hours from Australia.
The dinner was the first time the two leaders met face-to-face since a phone call in February, where the two discussed an Obama-era dealt accept Syrian refugees, which Trump noted as “dumb” and raised questions as the smoothness of the future relationship between the two countries. Both in jovial spirits at the celebration branded the press accounts “exaggerated” and called the phone call “great,” according to Trump.
New York City’s highest officials did not attend the dinner. Mayor de Blasio declined the invitation, citing “scheduling conflicts” and Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters he was unsure if he was even invited.
Though the president only spent about four hours in the city, the police department had to shoulder what was roughly $300,000 in security expenses for locking down not only where the president had visited, but protestors at his Midtown residence of Trump Tower, where his wife and son still reside.
While the police department had its resources spread thin to cover other parts of the city, they had lined 16 sanitation trucks on Fifth Avenue to protect Trump Tower, an anti-terrorist tactic preventing vehicles from nearing the building.
Outside the tower, one Vietnam veteran from Staten Island, Bill Johnsen, was protesting the arrival of the president.
“I have seen the growth, if that is the proper word…” said Johnsen. “The development of the persona of Donald J. Trump over the decades and he has been if one thing, and perhaps one thing only, an egomaniac of the extreme sort. Selling the Donald Trump name is ultimately who he is.”
The late arrival of Trump naturally led to the president avoiding the peak of the protests. Earlier during the day at Dewitt Clinton Park, just blocks away from the Intrepid, police had cleared a barricaded path for the protestors to march as close as permissible to the meeting. Many people marched banging pots and pans, known as cacerolazo, a common South American form of protest, which is meant to represent the common people. Many immigrants joined in speaking out, some like Christina Jimenez, a Queens resident, who declared that Trump, a Queens native himself, was not welcome here. “He isn’t a real New Yorker, he’s a penthouse New Yorker. We are the real New Yorkers.”
Last Wednesday night, members of the Women’s March hung a banner off the side of the Intrepid, as well as the Staten Island ferry, displaying the words “#NOTRUMPNYC.” The banner on the Intrepid was taken down, but the banner hung on the ferry could be seen most of the day. Protests lasted well into Trump’s arrival, while many passing New Yorkers honked in solidarity with their activist neighbors.
“New York City is the epitome of what is good about this world – People of all faiths, ethnicities, races and genders, living in one place with no space for hate at all,” said James just before seeing off the protestors on their march to the Intrepid. “If you try to build a wall, we will knock it down and build schools instead. If you try to deny us federals funds, we will say no, because when ignorance prevails, the courts always step in with sweet and tender justice. I know these past months have been overwhelming and draining, but silence, my friends, equals death; a death to a nation founded upon liberty and justice for all.”
By ISRAEL SALAS-RODRIGUEZ
A crowd of about 30 hungry families sat patiently waiting for their number to be called in order to gain access to a supermarket-style food pantry. Four persons at a time walked inside the food storage room allowing them to choose the goods they need for themselves and their families.
The scene was the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew in the Upper West side of Manhattan where the West Side Campaign Against Hunger in collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday kicked off their 25th annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive. Last year the organization set a record of 1.7 million pounds of food handed out to families in need.
Volunteers and workers were busy rolling in fresh as well as canned food, calling out numbers and handing out hot meals to hungry families in attendance. Between May 6-13, letter carriers will be collecting canned food from either customers or business locations and delivering them to food pantries across the city. “We do everything to try and get families out of poverty with the help of the community,” said Charlie Heege, president of NALC Branch 36.
“We live in the richest and most influential cities yet people still go to sleep hungry,” said Heege. “With your help we can stamp out hunger.”
Families walked out of the pantry with smiles on their faces as they wheeled out their charts full of food. Gregory Williams, of 110 Lenox Ave, has being going to the pantry for 15 years.
“I get food stamps so with what they give me it helps out a lot. I got chicken I don’t have to buy, milk I don’t have to buy, so with my food stamps I go shopping,” said Williams, as he carried his two bags full of food up Broadway.
