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North Brooklyn Angels Provides Thousands of Thanksgiving Meals to Neighbors

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. 

St. Kevin Catholic Academy Hosts First-Ever Thanksgiving Balloon Parade 

By Currents News

Move over Macy’s, there’s another Thanksgiving parade that’s painting the sky this holiday season: St. Kevin Catholic Academy in Flushing, Queens, held its first ever balloon parade on November 27.

The students were inspired after reading the book ‘Balloons Over Broadway,” a true story about the puppeteer who created the first balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

Pupils and faculty alike said the celebration was the perfect kickoff for the season of giving. While this is the first time the balloon parade sailed through St. Kevin, the catholic academy wants to keep the tradition going, making it bigger and better in the years to come.

Bensonhurst Non-Profit Continues to Feed Community Despite Lack of Funding

By Katie Vasquez

Offering the Thanksgiving bird and all the fixings to needy families is an annual tradition for Reaching Out Community Services.

It’s why people lined up outside the new location on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn, New York hours before the event started, hoping to get a feast for their family. That feast is something that those like single mom Ofeliya Amirova know they couldn’t afford otherwise. 

“If I were to go to the store right now, it would be more than $100 easy,”Amirova, a client at Reaching Out Community Services., tells Currents News.

But the Brooklynite was worried when she heard the non-profit was struggling to keep its doors open. 

“I was worrying myself because how are we gonna have the staples,” she asks.

Due to a lack of funding, Reaching Out Community Service had to reduce staff and the amount of families they help every year.

It also impacted this year’s Operation Gobbler Giving. 

 “It’s not going to be as many. We usually have 800 families, maybe about 300 families we’ll take care of,” Founder and Executive Director of Reaching Out Community Services, Thomas Neve, explains. 

He says 2024 has been especially difficult. 

 “I’ve never seen it like this before,” he admits. “You know, people have really gone through hard times. I know everybody wants out there, but I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in those who need.” 

Those waiting in line who have so little say they appreciate the help and that Reaching Out Community Service can give so much.

“It’s sad because they’re good people, and they’ve always been helping people for a lot of years,” says Desree Velez, a client at Reaching Out Community Services. 

“There’s a lot of homeless people, a lot of people in need. A lot of places are closing down,” Camille Allen, another client adds.

The non-profit is taking it day by day.

“I’m going to just walk by faith because right now I have no idea,” Neve tells Currents News, knowing that every holiday meal they provide, brings people closer to the true spirit of the season.  

“This is the highlight of our Thanksgiving,” Amirova says, “because, my daughter’s expecting a nice turkey for us to make, and we make memories.”

 

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 11/26/2024

Reaching Out Community Services says it’s been struggling to stay open in Brooklyn after funding cuts, but the organization won’t let this impact the number of families it helps this Thanksgiving.
Black Catholic History Month is ending in the Diocese of Brooklyn. At St. Bonaventure – St. Benedict the Moor in Queens, parishioners marked the month with song and dance.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Vatican. A 95-foot-tall Norway Spruce has arrived in St. Peter’s Square.

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy Wins Award for Excellence in Education

By Currents News

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy in Forest Hills, Queens, has been named a 2024 Cognia School of Distinction.

Cognia is a global school improvement nonprofit which recognized 60 schools and programs for their excellence in education out of nearly 2,000 that were considered around the world. 

The school celebrated November 25 with an assembly in honor of their success. The Cognia accreditation which evaluates learning, environment, and leadership lasts for one year.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 11/25/2024

With Thanksgiving just days away, St. John’s Bread & Life says it is committed to feeding more with less—it is poised to distribute 11,000 meals this week.

Some 1,600 young people from Brooklyn and Queens gathered at St. Thomas Aquinas Church for Catholic Youth Day with Bishop Robert Brennan.

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will reopen to the public in less than two weeks. National Correspondent John Lavenburg joins Currents News to share what visitors can expect.

Archdiocese of Paris Prepares for Reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral

By Currents News 

We are now less than two weeks away from the re-opening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.

On December 7 there will be a reopening ceremony followed by an inaugural Mass and consecration of the main altar the next day. 

This is the first time Notre Dame will open its doors to the public since it was badly burned five years ago. 

Now that the countdown is on, the Archdiocese of Paris is releasing more details on the Cathedral’s reopening plans. 

Here to discuss the details is the National Correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, John Lavenburg.