NEW YORK — PIX11 staff stepped into the fight against hunger Thursday.
They volunteered to help out at facilities in Bed-Stuy and Hillside, New Jersey bagging and packaging food.
At St. John’s Bread & Life in Brooklyn, Executive Director Sister Caroline Tweedy told us “If someone needs a meal we don’t ask any questions. We welcome the person and give them what they need.”
The pandemic challenged everyone, including organizations trying to help those need. That’s because the number of people wo need help has soared.
“The numbers are staggering,” Sister Caroline said. “We went from serving about 120 families a day at the height of the pandemic we were at 550 a day.”
The new clients were a surprise to the staff.
“We got so many new clients, I’m like where all these people coming from?” said Wilfredo Morales. He’s a case manager at St. John’s Bread & Life but now spends a lot of time helping with food distribution.
And St. John’s does a lot more than just feed the hungry.
“We have low income or no income medical. We have an on-site medical clinic with care for the homeless,” Sister Caroline told PIX11 News. “We have Urban justice which is a partner for us for legal assistance. The facility also offers help with SNAP benefits and rent issues.”
Theefforts to help the hungry are part of doing a little extra for the communities we serve to mark Founder’s Day. June 17 is the 25th anniversary of the founding of PIX11’s parent company, Nexstar Media Group. CEO Perry Sook started with running one station in Scranton-Wilkes Barre and has built the company into the largest TV station group in America with 199 stations.
And St. John’s does a lot more than just feed the hungry.
PIX11 people also helped out at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey which has been hit hard by the pandemic.
As the CFBNJ’s Debby Scheinholtz told us, “All of the food that we distribute and a lot of the work that we do is done by volunteers. And during the pandemic we have seen our volunteer participation drop by about 60% while the need has increased so much.”
There is a great benefit in working at these facilities according to Wilfredo Morales of St. John’s.
“The clients love us and we love them,” he said. It’s a good place to work.
If you’re interested in lending a hand you can check out the organizations at their websites: www.breadandlife.org and www.cfbnj.org.
