By Jessica Easthope
The chance to sit down, eat a dignified meal and participate in tradition are what the North Brooklyn Angels are giving the people of their community for Thanksgiving this year.
2024 marks the fifth year the organization that battles food insecurity in the borough has held its “Neighbors Giving Thanks” campaign, providing 1,000 frozen turkeys, 2,000 mobile meals and four sit-down Thanksgiving lunches.
Mirayda Nunez who came with her son Michael to the Bushwick, Brooklyn location tells Currents News she is endlessly grateful for the support: “It’s helping us by providing a little more, because sometimes it’s hard to get groceries and everything. Eggs, milk especially. Even though WIC helps me with him, it’s still too much for us.”
Turkey and all the trimmings were dished out in an assembly line and given to more than 100 people during the November 26 lunch. Michael Salamanca and his wife Hillary have been volunteering with the Angels for four years, and he says his Catholic faith has instilled in him a love of service –
“You get what you give,” he explains. “And this is something that’s important to us. And it makes us feel good. And it’s just an opportunity for us to give back a little bit of all the goodness and the positivity that the Lord and Jesus and God has given us in our lives.”
North Brooklyn Angels board member Jonathan McKenna says the migrant crisis has changed their operation in many ways, allowing them to collaborate with community leaders who know the population best.
“We knew that we needed to help people that have come here with almost nothing and through oftentimes harrowing journeys to be here, “ he notes. “So what can we do to ease that burden for them?”
North Brooklyn Angels will be hosting three more community meals like this on Thanksgiving day. All in all, 600 plates of food will be distributed in Bushwick.