The coronavirus slammed families across the spectrum, but the Roosevelt Island Free Food Pantry pushes back each Friday. Hunger’s given less of a toehold because our neighbors find a way.
By David Stone
Hunger Meets Its Match
Untangling the chaos immediately following the early onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, local groups scrambled to compensate for losses. That is, losses of jobs, income, available food and moral support.
Chief among them, the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA), under Wendy Hersh, and the Carter Burden Network converted the Senior Center into a Free Food Pantry.
It operates for two and a half hours, every Friday.
Health checks are mandatory, but community services also means free masks and helpful brochures.
The crisis deepened through the summer, but RIDA, CBN and volunteers kept at it.
Because Queens-based 9 Million Reasons gathers food for all and shares, Roosevelt Island is less hungry.
More fresh variety at the Roosevelt Island Food Pantry
Residents in need get numbers earlier in the day, and then, they wait outside the senior center. Demand is high with 160+ families helped every week, but fair weather helps.
Roosevelt Island’s Free Food Pantry gets a week off…
With Thanksgiving coming up next week, the free food pantry takes a rare week off, but they’ll be back, first Friday in December.
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The Steam Tunnel Repair That Disappeared
Capital projects change. Costs rise, engineering evolves, funding moves and questions of ownership can complicate even urgent work. But the Roosevelt Island Steam Tunnel was not a speculative improvement that simply slipped down a priority list. RIOC’s own records describe an infrastructure problem known for decades.
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