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<\/a>SURROUNDED BY FAMILY members, friends and volunteers, Jasmine Pineda (center) hosts her own food giveaway on East 148th Street and St. Ann\u2019s Avenue in the South Bronx on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.Photo by David Greene<\/p>\n
Local elected officials, nonprofits, food pantries, and regular individuals donated even more cash, food and time than usual this year to host various turkey giveaways and Thanksgiving dinners for Bronxites following the recent federal government shutdown which, as reported, had a marked impact on food insecurity in the borough.<\/p>\n
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In Mott Haven, Bishop Boyde Singletary, the executive pastor and co-founder of the Alpha & Omega Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, holds a weekly food distribution at The People\u2019s Park on East 141st Street, where he is often joined by his mother, pastor and co-founder, Dr. Cheryl Singletary.<\/p>\n
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On Saturday, Nov. 22, volunteers from the church distributed 100 turkeys. The group also distributed food to 40 families of military veterans and 40 people who are currently homeless. The following day, the Alpha & Omega Church held its 5th Annual Vets-Giving Event held at the corner of East 149th Street and Third Avenue.<\/p>\n
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Bishop Singletary said of the veterans\u2019 event, \u201cWe will be donating food to veterans and their families, so they have a complete and proper Thanksgiving dinner.\u201d \u00a0On the day, volunteers distributed 144 meals that consisted of Halal chicken with rice, pork with vegetables and rice, or steak with rice and carrots, a box of stuffing, corn, onions and potatoes, as well as water and soda.<\/p>\n
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The bishop pointed out that many of the veterans in attendance are also homeless. At the same time, a block south of the Vets-Giving event, a smaller crowd gathered at the corner of East 148th Street and St. Ann\u2019s Avenue also in Mott Haven, where Jasmine Pineda was with a handful of friends, family members, and volunteers busily distributing holiday meals and clothing to strangers.<\/p>\n
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Pineda told Norwood News, \u201cI have been doing this for a few years now, I usually do this on 34th Street [in Manhattan]. I just print a flyer and ask people to donate trays of food and volunteer or send me money.\u201d With the money, Pineda said she purchases more food and the volunteers help to distribute it.<\/p>\n
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Asked why she chose the Mott Haven streets in The Bronx this year, Pineda explained, \u201cI grew up around here.\u201d She added, \u201cThe other day I saw that there were a lot of homeless people in the area and a lot of people doing drugs, so this year, I decided to not do it on 34th Street by Penn Station and do it here where I\u2019m from.\u201d Pineda said she hoped to distribute 150 meals and 100 bags of toiletries, winter jackets and clothing for those in need.<\/p>\n
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On Nov. 25, at the American Albanian Open Hand Association (AAOHA) food pantry located on Lydig and Holland Avenues in Pelham Parkway, AAOHA founder Aleksander Nilaj expected between 800 to 1,000 people, and was elated when Sharing Excess called at the last minute and asked if he could take a truck of donated food.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we were not expecting to receive anything and they called and asked, \u2018Can you accept a truck?\u2019 and I said, \u2018Yes, thank you!\u2019,\u201d Nilaj said. He was joined by a team led by volunteer supervisor Oscar Gildemister who comes from the Light of Truth Mennonite Church on Soundview Avenue. The team distributed and prepared meals for the crowds for the next two days.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Robert, a resident of Pelham Parkway, was asked if this was his first time visiting Open Hand. \u201cFor Thanksgiving, it\u2019s my first time, but I was coming here for food during the week on Thursdays, and they told me they may have turkeys today,\u201d he said. Asked how the food helps, Robert said, \u201cIt helps a lot because the budget is tightening these days, right? So, it helps feed the kids and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After the food truck from Sharing Excess arrived and was unloaded, its driver, Jayson, a former Bronxite now living in Stanford, Connecticut, was asked about his employer. \u201cWe\u2019re a nonprofit organization,\u201d he said. \u201cWe help the schools, churches, pantries, and those in need, and we\u2019re based out of the Hunts Point Produce Market.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On this run, Jayson delivered large pallets of potatoes, greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Asked how he feels delivering food to those in need, Jayson said, \u201cI love my job 365 days a year. It doesn\u2019t matter, the holiday, to me; I love what I do. This is my favorite thing all day, literally. I love doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Nov. 26, Open Hand was expecting over 500 people who could choose to grab a meal or two and go or have a meal sitting on several benches in the back of the pantry. Nilaj said that all of the day\u2019s meals came from a donation made by Councilmember Kristy Marmorato (C.D. 13.) Nilaj also wanted to thank a group known only as \u201cKenny and his brothers,\u201d who Nilaj said had helped keep their doors open.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He explained that the anonymous brothers had donated money to pay Open Hand\u2019s rent for the last several months. Asked if Open Hand had seen a decrease in donations recently, Nilaj said, \u201cYes, we\u2019re having trouble with donation[s]. We are also having trouble getting money from the City. We haven\u2019t gotten money from the City yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After having a meal at Open Hand, Salina, a second resident of Pelham Parkway, said, \u201cThe food was so good and healthy and they give you such big portions. This was the first time I\u2019ve been here for Thanksgiving. I just finished eating and this is the plate for my dear old aunt who I\u2019m taking care of. She didn\u2019t want to come outside but I\u2019ve got her back. I\u2019ll bring it to her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On Thanksgiving Day, Marmorato stopped by at Open Hand as volunteers were seen busily serving the large crowd. She told Norwood News, \u201cI love being a part of the community, especially on Lydig Avenue. I love partnering with Alek and Albanian Open Hand because they do such amazing work. They really do get the services and the food out to the people who really need it in the community, and I\u2019m always here to support Alek.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Marmorato said she arrived at Open Hand after stopping off at Christopher Columbus High School in Allerton where she said she presented a $4 million check that will be used to start a reconstruction project of the school\u2019s athletic field.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on Nov. 26, at Part of The Solution (POTS), a soup kitchen and food pantry located on Webster Avenue in Bedford Park, director of programs, Jack Marth, said, \u201cA busy week, yeah\u2026\u2026lots of stuff coming in, going out. It\u2019s been a difficult month with the suspension of SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) earlier in the month, but even before that, the need was great and like our name, we\u2019re just part of the solution. We hope at least this Thanksgiving people have enough to have a celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Asked if donations had been keeping up with demand this year, Marth said, \u201cYeah, we\u2019re getting a good amount of extra donations beyond what we would usually get in just a normal month.\u201d He added, \u201cWe\u2019re highly dependent on volunteers so if anybody reads this, please go to our website and you can sign up to be a volunteer. We\u2019re always looking for volunteers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For about the last four decades, POTS has sponsored an annual Thanksgiving dinner at Our Lady of Refuge Church on East 196th Street and Briggs Avenue in Fordham Manor on Thanksgiving Day. However, this year, the annual dinner, prepared and served by the 29th year by volunteers from the Church of the Resurrection in Rye, NY, was held at St. Philip Neri Roman Catholic Church on the Grand Concourse in Bedford Park.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At that dinner, held this year on Thursday, Nov. 27, David Tone of the Church of the Resurrection explained that the annual Thanksgiving event averages about 1,000 visitors. He said many would sit down for dinner and others would take the meal home.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Of POTS, Tone said, \u201cTheir kitchen closes twice a year, on Thanksgiving and Christmas. That\u2019s when these folks (volunteers from the Church of the Resurrection) all step up and volunteer to help cover and offer a special meal for Thanksgiving and Christmas on those two days, so the people at POTS can get at least two days off.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Tone mentioned that Our Lady of Refuge School, located at 2708 Briggs Avenue, had closed, adding, \u201cSo, we lost our venue.\u201d He said that Father Dan at St. Philip Neri had spent time at the Church of the Resurrection, and the church offered to host the dinner.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After his meal, Bedford Park resident Steven said, \u201cThey made a great meal for Thanksgiving with extras to take home.\u201d He added that he would bring a takeaway meal to a friend. \u201cThey gave me a nice Thanksgiving meal that makes me feel good,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just wonderful, a wonderful time with great people, and the people from the church are wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, while Our Lady of Refuge School has apparently closed, the doors to its cafeteria were not and a few dozen people were seen sitting down or waiting \u00a0in line for a meal. A member of the church who declined to be identified said of the meals being distributed, \u201cThis is for the people in the neighborhood.\u201d The church member explained that some food donated to the church was sent over to St. Philip Neri, while Our Lady of Refuge parishioner Roy Garcia, who owns a catering business, had his staff prepare and serve this year\u2019s Thanksgiving meal.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The church member was asked about the school\u2019s closing. \u201cThe parish had the school, and then the Archdiocese [of New York] had the school for the last 15 years. It belonged to the diocese, the school, not the parish, and so they left and now, we\u2019re hoping to get a rental to help the parish, like a charter school, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As he served meals to residents, Garcia, owner of The Cooking Team on the Grand Concourse, told Norwood News, \u201cThe reason why I did this is because I felt thankful and I have been very fortunate this year. God blessed me a lot, so I want to be able to do something nice for everybody.\u201d Garcia said he hopes to return next year to continue the new tradition.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Other turkey giveaways were hosted by several elected officials, including one in St. James Park in Fordham Manor sponsored by Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14). Click here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>\u00a0for more of our Thanksgiving coverage.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By DAVID GREENE SURROUNDED BY FAMILY members, friends and volunteers, Jasmine Pineda (center) hosts her own food…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-59329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>VOLUNTEERS FROM THE Alpha & Omega Church in Mott Haven distribute food during their 5th Annual Vets-Giving Event held on the corner of East 149th Street and Third Avenue on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.
Photo by David Greene<\/p>\n<\/a>A LARGE CROWD waits in line for a free Thanksgiving dinner sponsored by Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14) inside St. James Park on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
Photo by David Greene<\/p>\n<\/a>AT A THANKSGIVING dinner held Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025 hosted by the Albanian American Open Hand Association are Aleksander Nilaj (front, 3rd from right) City Councilmember Kristy Marmorato (C.D. 13, front, 2nd from right) and volunteers.
Photo by David Greene<\/p>\n