FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2020
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Adriana Rodriguez
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arodriguez@desalesmedia.org
John Quaglione
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Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens Hosts Pop-Up Food Distribution in Corona Queens for Community Severely Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens hosted a Pop-Up Food Distribution event in the Corona section of Queens today for a community severely impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The event was held at the Catholic Charities Therese Cervini Early Childhood Development Center located at 35-33 104th Street in Corona today, Wednesday, April 8th, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The grab-and-go style event provided families and individuals with bags of food that will feed a family of three for three days. Catholic Charities prepared 750 bags which included an array of fresh fruits and vegetables, beverages and nonperishable goods. Some additional items consisted of apples, oranges, lemons, raisins, bread, Gatorade, apple juice, instant coffee, rice, cans of fruit, tuna fish, peanut butter, microwaveable macaroni and cheese, cereals, packets of mayonnaise and jelly, applesauce and black beans. Catholic Charities also provided access to additional assistance, information, and resources. 60 percent of the COVID-19 cases in New York City are located in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.
“Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens was privileged to serve 750 families today. The need is very great, obviously, due to the economic impact of not having jobs. We chose here in Corona, right here at the Therese Cervini Early Childhood Development Center, at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, really to give to an opportunity to the community, and to be able to serve them in this time of great need,” said Richard Slizeski, Senior Vice President, Office of Mission, Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens.
“Part of this whole thing has been to really help out people,” continued Slizeski.
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens is responding to the hardworking families in this primarily immigrant neighborhood by providing pop-up food pantries, access to supportive services via our call center and behavioral health services via telehealth.
In the past week, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens has seen a 50 percent increase in the need for hot meals to be delivered to isolated seniors. On average, the agency distributes 5,000 meals, but as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak, Catholic Charities is delivering 8,000 meals weekly. Food pantry distributions have also increased. On average, the agency distributes 83,000 meals per month within our food pantry network. Last week Catholic Charities saw a 20 percent increase across our 20 parish-based food pantries.
The Pop-Up Food Distribution is organized and funded by Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens as a direct response to our neighbors in need in both boroughs.
For the video of today’s event, and comments by Richard Slizeski visit: https://vimeo.com/405556239
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