Thanksgiving is a time to give back and have families come together. Thanks to the people of Queens, NY, more families will be able to enjoy this holiday season.
For the second straight year, Flatbush Moving Van Company hosted its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. This year’s was held at the Lindenwood Village Shopping Center in Howard Beach which sits near the border between Brooklyn and Queens. On Saturday, November 14, between 8 am and 2 pm, local residents were encouraged to drop off canned goods to those in need.
It’s safe to say that that people responded in droves. Flatbush collected more than 1,000 lbs an hour totaling over 6,000 pounds of food which is good for over 5,000 meals. Flatbush Moving Van Company then transported all of the food to the local food pantry, Our Lady of Grace.
This was almost a 50% increase over last year when they collected 4,300 lbs of food during their inaugural Thanksgiving food drive. Since working with Move For Hunger in 2014, Flatbush has transported over 11,000 lbs of food (9,600 meals).
The food drive happened at just the right time as NYC residents brace for the long winter ahead. The city is preparing for its next wave of shutdowns due to COVID-19 which will knock more people out of work. Pre-pandemic, there were 37 million people considered food insecure. It’s estimated that 17 million more Americans are now struggling to get 3 meals per day. Just in Queens County, there are over 200,000 people who are food insecure and that number is expected to rise by about 50% because of the pandemic.
Help with the fight against hunger by starting your own food drive or donating to the cause.
