By Jessica Easthope
Angelina Aviles and Giuliana Astore are the shy girls in class. But when they’re out pounding the pavement, all that changes.
They’re bold for a good cause, raising money for the St. Athanasius food pantry with their nonprofit, Care 2 Create.
“That food has to support their family which can be up to four people, maybe more so it’s very difficult for them,” Aviles said.
“Here at St. Athanasius people always say thank you and it feels really nice,” Astore said.
Every Monday this summer, the girls have gone door-to-door at private businesses in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn asking for donations. They feel pulled to help out and make a push for others to do the same, because food insecurity is rampant.
St. Athanasius’ food pantry feeds 1,600 people a month, many are newly arrived migrants but funds are dwindling. Last year, they were given $36,000 to spend, this year it dropped to below $12,000. All while 66,000 more people are walking the streets of New York City.
Charlotte Montgomery, the director of the St. Athanasius’ food pantry says Aviles and Astore are making a difference.
“When they come they’re hands on with everything, it’s like what can we do and that’s really a blessing,” Montgomery said.
And for clients, seeing the next generation gives them hope.
“It’s hard for people to eat so it makes me very happy to see them helping,” Fredeline Osting, a client at the pantry, said .
The girls, who have been best friends for 10 years, now go to different Catholic academies in Brooklyn but still work together. They started Care 2 Create as a way to help with their social anxiety and make friends.
“I am definitely more outgoing,” Astore said.
“I’m able to start conversations, I’m able to hold conversations and use those skills to build friendships,” Aviles said.
Aviles’ mom Jessica tags along when the girls fundraise, but she lets them take the lead and doesn’t step in, even when they get pushback.
“They are going to face rejection throughout their entire lives and this is a way for them to learn how to face that rejection and in a respectful manner,” she said.
Some days it seems like hunger is unstoppable, but the girls are showing everyone and themselves what it means to never give up.