CB 7's Thanksgiving Food Drive Ends Tomorrow!

Check out your cupboards or buy something on the way over or bring a five-dollar bill to the office. 

from The Brooklyn Eagle's reminders of various opportunities/needs:

Community Board 7’s Thanksgiving Food Drive
CB 7 is accepting donations of canned goods and non-perishable items, such as boxed cereals, cookies, cake mix, canned/bagged coffee, rice, pasta, baby food, juices, water, sweets, etc. Donations will benefit the food pantries serving the CB 7 District. Bring your donations to the office at 4201 Fourth Ave. no later than Friday, Nov. 20. If you wish to make a monetary donation, please call the office at (718) 854-0003 or e-mail communityboard7@ yahoo.com for further information. Board 7 is also holding a holiday gift drive, accepting donations of unwrapped new toys and clothing for girls and boys (infant to age 12) through December 18.

Reminder: CB 7 Food Drive

You've still got one week!

CB 7 is accepting donations of canned goods and non-perishable items for its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. All donations will benefit the food pantries serving the Community Board 7 District. Anyone who has seen the lines for the local food pantries knows that there is plenty of need.

Go through your cupboards and pantries to see if there are items you can donate. Another idea is to take a small amount of cash (if you order out once a week or go out for dinner/drinks, put in that amount) and go shopping specifically for the drive. You can also just give the money to the drive. Canned goods, boxed cereals, cake mixes, canned/bagged coffee, rice, pasta, baby food, juice, water, sweets and treats, sauces, and formula are all accepted.

Bring your donations to the CB 7 office at 4201 4th Avenue (corner of 43rd and 4th Avenue) by Friday, November 20th. Bring them early, so you don't forget!

CB 7 Thanksgiving Food Drive

CB 7 is accepting donations of canned goods and non-perishable items for its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. All donations will benefit the food pantries serving the Community Board 7 District. Anyone who has seen the lines for the local food pantries knows that there is plenty of need.

Go through your cupboards and pantries to see if there are items you can donate. Another idea is to take a small amount of cash (if you order out once a week or go out for dinner/drinks, put in that amount) and go shopping specifically for the drive. Canned goods, boxed cereals, cake mixes, canned/bagged coffee, rice, pasta, baby food, juice, water, sweets and treats, sauces, peanut butter, and baby formula are all accepted.

Bring your donations to the CB 7 office at 4201 4th Avenue (corner of 43rd and 4th Avenue) by Friday, November 20th. Bring them early, so you don't forget!

MLK Service Day: Canned Food Drive to Benefit Center for Family Life

In commemoration of the call to service in honor of Dr. King's Federal Holiday, the Sunset Park Parents group is holding a Canned Food Drive to benefit the Food Pantry at the Center for Family Life. Today!

From Noon to 2 PM (maybe later), stop by the Sunset Park Recreation Center to drop off non-perishable items.

This is a small operation, so don't look for balloons and bake sales. Chances are it will be a person or two with boxes/bags to haul away the items. There will most likely be a sign and a child or two hanging around as well.

Suggested items include: Rice, pasta, tuna fish, beans (dry or canned), sauces, baby formula, canned vegetables and fruits, cereals, oatmeal, peanut butter (although maybe now isn't the best time...).

Enjoy your day of service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Center for Family Life's Food Pantry is "Bare"

The Food Pantries in the area have lost a lot of their usual donations due to the very bad economic times.

According to Anne Sherman, a board member for the Center for Family Life, the food shelves in their pantry (which services families in Sunset Park) are BARE. The food stuffs that they normally receive have diminished because of the growing need around the City.

She writes:

As you can imagine, this is a huge concern for us, because we know that, in addition to the families that already rely on this food, the number of families in need will only grow in the coming months. The Center's staff estimates that it would cost us $1,000/week if we were to stock the shelves by purchasing food ourselves. Contributions are most welcome and greatly appreciated! Many thanks for your generosity and care.

If you would like to write a check and designate it for the food pantry, please make the check out to "Center for Family Life" and write "food pantry" in the memo line. Or, if it's better for you, donations can also be made on our website with a credit card - click on "support CFL" on the left of the home page (www.cflsp.org). Please indicate that it is a donation for food in the comments section of the online form. If you are mailing a check or delivering food, the address is: Center for Family Life, 343 43rd Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11232. Call 718 788 3500 with any questions.

One of the co-directors, Julia Jean-Francois, explains: We have never had so few donations from our usual sources...The result is that folks in the community who have lost jobs and are not able to find work or who just can't make ends meet are coming more and more to get very basic pantry donations of rice, dry beans and really anything...

So head on over to the Center for Family Life's Food Pantry at 5505 4th Avenue with your donation of non-perishables or money. Monetary donations are often preferred because the Center can purchase items in bulk. However, nothing is too small or insignificant. As was mentioned, rice and dry beans are basics that everyone can use. Also, that box of elbow pasta that you never seem to use or that can of peas and carrots you just don't heat up or that two-pack of tuna you never opened would all make lovely donations. All three would be even better!

Giving Food (or cash) to Give Thanks

The CB7 Food Drive ended yesterday (although they will accept donations until 2 PM today), and the drive collected about three boxes of food. I'm sure it would have been more if life and activities and the business of the ever-approaching holidays weren't tugging at the minutes and hours of our days. When I dropped stuff off, there wasn't even one box full, so I was glad to hear that three boxes had been filled.

The Center for Family Life will be receiving the CB7 boxes of food for its food pantry located at 5505 4th Avenue. The Salvation Army, at 520 50th Street also provides food to those in need.

Another local food pantry is at Trinity Lutheran Church. The office is at 411 46th Street (corner of 4th Avenue). Trinity accepts donations of non-perishable foods Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.

Those of us who are not in line for food should feel thankful. I propose we show our thanks by sharing what we have. It sounds goofy and preachy, I know. And I'm preaching to myself as much as to anyone else. But passing by that line of people waiting for food outside Methodist Episcopal/Iglesia Luz del Mundo on 4th and 47th is deeply humbling, especially as a parent. They distribute food on Thursdays from 4:30 PM - 6 PM (or 5:30-7, depending on who is giving information), and there has been a block-long line before 4 PM for many Thursdays.

If you are able to give something during these queasy economic times, please do. Buy two boxes of pasta on sale and give one of them. Pick up a few cans of tuna or a few jars of tomato sauce to donate. How about black beans or baked beans? A bag of rice or some canned fruit? The next time you order in or go out to eat, spend that much on non-perishables to bring over to one of the above locations. Relatively painless to you, helpful to them. Unfortunately, I think the heightened need will be there for a long, long time.

You can search for pantries close to you for donations or receiving help here. The Food Bank of NYC is a great place to make a cash donation as well.

Here are some links to articles/posts about food pantries around Brooklyn and NYC:

Today's Daily News

NewYorkShitty's Great Post about the Soup Kitchen at the Greenpoint Reformed Church

from June Crain's NY Business

NYTimes Articles:

The Executive Director of the NYC Coalition Against Hunger Answers Questions

Pantries and Kitchens are Struggling - this was from a year ago!

CB 7 Thanksgiving Food Drive to Benefit Local Food Pantries

Now through Monday, November 24th, Community Board 7 is accepting canned goods and non-perishable food items at its office at 4201 4th Avenue - the entrance is on 43rd Street. Suggested items include:

All sorts of canned goods, boxed cereals, cookies, cake mix, canned/bagged (sealed) coffee, rice, pasta, baby food, formula, juice, water. All donations will benefit food pantries serving the CB 7 District; this includes Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace.

If you wish to make a monetary donation, please call the CB 7 office at 718-854-0003 or email communityboard7@yahoo.com for more information.

Consider buying two of a few items you are purchasing for yourself the next time you visit a supermarket, then drop the extras at the CB 7 office. If you shop at the 5th Avenue Key Food, you're just a block and a half away from the office...what could be easier?